News archive of September 2015

Greek Deputy Labor and Social Security Minister Tassos Petropoulos left open the possiblity of lifting the retirement age in Greece to over 67 years in a circular that outlines a number of changes for those retiring after July 1, 2015.

Kosovo and Serbia agreed on Tuesday on the mutual recognition of university diplomas, which Kosovo hopes will improve the job prospects of ethnic Albanians in Serbia.

Bosnia's tourist bosses and entrepreneurs are rubbing their hands in delight after another successful summer season, which brought a significant bump in the number of domestic and foreign visitors - and more income, naturally.  

Romania's Senate last week adopted adopt a new law condemning communist totalitarianism, which includes the drafting of a report and the establishment of the National Museum of Communist Totalitarianism in Bucharest, early next year.

As Macedonia moves into election mode, opponents of Prime Minister are being urged to rename their home wi-fi networks 'Goodbye Nikola'.

Croatia is mulling its options on refugees after Hungary again announced that it may  completely close the border with Croatia.

After Hungary closed the border with Serbia on September 15, the refugee wave promptly diverted to Croatia the next day, with buses of refugees coming from the town of Presevo in the south of Serbia to the border.

A tough October is in store for Greek households that are being called to pay 2.5-3 bln euros in taxes (not including the VAT hikes imposed on Aegean islands or private education institutions).

President Rosen Plevneliev stated that similarly to the whole democratic world, Bulgaria has a firm stance on Syria, namely that the current dictatorial regime of President Bashar al-Assad, which is responsible for bombing thousands of people and innocent children, can not be part of a sustainable and working solution for the country.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde told Greek Economy Minister Giorgos Stathakis that the IMF is prepared to work with Greece in the promotion of its agenda of reforms.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras met with his Turkish counterpart, Ahmet Davutoglu, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meetings in New York. During this meeting, they agreed to tighten Greek-Turkish collaboration on the refugees issue.