News archive of June 2015

Angela Merkel has called on Belgrade and Pristina to reach compromise, stressing that only progress in their dialogue would bring them closer to the EU.

"It's time to achieve compromise," the German chancellor has been quoted as saying during a joint news conference with Kosovo Prime Minister Isa Mustafa in Berlin.

Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic says Serbia's approach to the dialogue with Pristina will continue to be constructive despite the lack of agreement on Monday.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday reiterated that there was still an open channel of communication between creditors and capital control-shocked Greece

She spoke in Berlin during a during a joint press conference with the visiting PM of Kosovo, Isa Mustafa.

Serbia's Privatization Agency has announced a call for bids for 38 state-owned media outlets, including the Tanjug news agency.

The 38 media outlets, mostly regional radio stations, will be sold via public auctions.

The acquisition of 100% ownership of the Tanjug news agency is estimated at EUR 760, 935.74, according to the online version of Serbian daily Kurir.

Two Uber France managers have been ordered to stand trial on behalf of the San Francisco-based company on charges including "deceptive commercial practices" and complicity in illegal activities linked to its low-cost ride-hailing service.

The 27th ENKA Cultural Encounters will start July 1 at the ENKA E?ref Denizhan Openair Theater with "Dorian the Musical," produced by the Istanbul-based MüzkalC?. 

The seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate in the 28 member states of the European Union decreased to 9.6% in May compared with 10.3% a year earlier, Eurostat said on Tuesday. 

"This is the lowest rate recorded in the EU28 since July 2011," the EU statistical office said in a news release.

Bulgaria is ranked at the bottom of the ranking on policies of migrant integration, taking the 31st spot out of all 38.

Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis confirmed that the country will not make its debt repayment to the IMF, which falls due later on Tuesday.

Varoufakis said this in a response to a question whether the country will make the EUR 1.6 B payment due to the IMF as he was walking into the building of the finance ministry on Tuesday, daily Kathimerini reports.

Tama the stationmaster, Japan's feline star of a struggling local railway, was mourned by company officials and fans and elevated into a goddess at a funeral on June 28.