News archive of January 2017

In what was seen as a response to a recent proliferation of Turkish provocations, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said Tuesday that the future of the Balkans and the wider region can only be built on the foundation of international law and mutual respect, dialogue and cooperation.

Owners of real estate property in Sofia Municipality will be able to pay local taxes and fees for 2017 as of February 1, announced Deputy Finance Mayor Doncho Balabanov.

Buyers expecting to see Greek stock prices rise on Tuesday after two sessions of major losses were sorely disappointed. The benchmark and the majority of stocks ended lower, while Greek bond prices also dropped.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index ended at 611.75 points, shedding 0.38 percent from Monday's 614.08 points. On a monthly basis it gave up 4.95 percent.

The anti-corruption non-governmental organisation Transparency International has called for stricter ethical rules in the European Parliament.

170 European deputies from the previous mandate until 2014 have found jobs in the private sector and nearly 1/3 work at lobbyist firms in Brussels, showed a report of the organisation published in Brussels on Tuesday.

Greece's anti-corruption agency has dismissed Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, published last week, which said that the country's performance in 2016 worsened, falling to 69th place out of 167 countries, from 58th in 2015.

The recent flurry of attacks by anti-establishment groups in Athens against riot police units and party offices, along with the storming of a ministry and a newspaper, have placed authorities on alert.

A total of 2,711 people were given refugee status last year by the Greek Asylum Service, while another 275 were awarded protection upon appeal, according to data published Tuesday.

In comparison, 3,995 people were recognized as refugees in 2015. Another 474 gained recognition after an appeals process.

Minster of Digital Policy, Media and Telecommunications Nikos Pappas admitted on Tuesday that some of the sarcastic comments posted on social media in response to his announcement on Monday that he will table a bill inaugurating Greece's first space agency, were "inspired," but called on people to take the issue more seriously.

BELGRADE - Kiev could be deliberately increasing tensions in Donbass, Germany's Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper wrote citing its sources in the German government.

"Berlin believes that Poroshenko is determined to do almost everything to prevent the lifting of sanctions against Russia," the newspaper said.