Croatia

Vucic confirms he'll attend inauguration in Zagreb

BELGRADE -- Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has confirmed that he will attend the inauguration of new Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarevic.

According to him the decision was "difficult to make" and is good neither for him personally nor for his party, the SNS.

The Bulgarian national football team dropped four positions in the latest FIFA world ranking, which was released on Thursday.

At present Bulgaria occupies the 70th position with 506 points, being one place behind Norway, which is one of its direct opponents in the qualifications for EURO 2016.

KAZAN - Serbia's water polo team will compete in Group D with Montenegro, Australia and Japan at the World Championship this year, the draw decided on Thursday.

The remaining groups will gather:

Group A: Croatia, Brazil, Canada and China,

Group B: Greece, the U.S., Italy and Russia,

Group C: South Africa, Hungary, Argentina and Kazakhstan.

BELGRADE - Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic met on Thursday with Canadian Ambassador to Serbia Phillip Pinnington, who conveyed the support of the Canadian government to the policy of economic, political and regional stability pursued by the government of Serbia.

BELGRADE - Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic will attend an inauguration of new Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic in the interest of political and regional stability, as he underscored at a press conference.

Vucic said that he made the decision after consultations with President Tomislav Nikolic, so he is travelling to Zagreb with a message of peace and cooperation.

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic confirmed on Thursday that he will attend the inauguration of the new Croatian President, Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic.

Grabar Kitarovic won the presidential elections in January, narrowly defeating the incumbent, Ivo Josipovic, in the second round.

Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic on Wednesday said a number of Croatian citizens had joined the conflict in eastern Ukraine on the side of the government and against pro-Russian rebels.

"They are not joining paramilitary units; they strictly fight for the Ukrainian side, in the regular Ukrainian army," Pusic noted.

PARIS - Serbia ranks as 67th out of 180 countries ranked according to the Press Freedom Index, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in the annual evaluation released on Thursday, stressing that media freedom suffered a "drastic decline" worldwide last year.

"Media freedom declines worldwide, including Serbia"

Serbia ranks as 67th out of 180 countries ranked according to the Press Freedom Index, according to the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) annual report.

The organization stressed that media freedom suffered a "drastic decline" worldwide last year.

The development of plans for the construction of a Vertical Corridor connecting the gas grids of Bulgaria, Greece, and Romania has reached an advanced stage, according to Romanian authorities.