Czech Republic

The third international ArtAnkara Contemporary Art Fair is set to be held between March 16 and 19 at the ATO Congresium Congress and Exhibition Hall in Turkey's capital Ankara, featuring artworks by 600 artists from around the world. 

The fair, covering an area of 10,000 square meters, will showcase the newest works of Turkish and international contemporary art to visitors. 

Significant reductions of over 10 percent were recorded in the incarceration rate in Greece (-18.8 percent), Croatia (-10 percent) and Denmark (-11 percent) between 2014 and 2015, according to the Council of Europe's annual penal statistics (SPACE), published on Tuesday.

The number of births in Greece in 2015 was 10.2 percent lower than those in 2001, according to figures published on Wednesday by the European Commission's statistical agency, Eurostat.

The data show that 102,282 children were born in Greece in 2001 but this number fell to 91,847 in 2015. This was the fifth highest relative fall in the European Union during this period.

Figures published by Eurostat are particularly discouraging for birth rates in Greece. According to the data, Greek women are bearing fewer children at a later stage in their lives, compared to the EU average. The numbers revealed that births had dropped in Greece by 10.2% between 2001-2015, when the respective numbers over the same period were up in the EU.

Eastern European countries have pledged to raise the question of varying food quality in different regions of Europe at the next meeting of EU agricultural ministers next Monday.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said late on Monday that the European Union will have problems if do not allow individual members to participate in various degrees of integration with each other.

Merkel made the comment in Paris after a meeting with the leaders of the four largest economies in the Eurozone - Germany, France, Italy and Spain.

According to Eurostat, Greece remains the champion in unemployment rates among EU member states, with 23%. The data published by the European statistical services revealed that while the unemployment average was below 10% in the rest of the common currency union and stood at levels below 2009, Greece’s jobless rate was two and a half more.

Bulgaria's interim Agriculture Minister has said Sofia intends on joining the Visegrad group in their demand that companies should stop selling lower-quality products in Eastern Europe compared to the rest of the continent.

The issue will be raised at a ministerial meeting in Brussels on Monday, Hristo Bozukov has told daily 24 Chasa.

Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto has said the security of the European Union depends on Turkey's stability.

Speaking to Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency on the eve of the Turkey-Hungary 5th Joint Economic Commission meeting, Szijjarto said Hungary respects Turkey for housing the refugees.

Bulgaria has matched only 2% of the migrant relocation required under the EU-wide scheme, the European Commission says.

Bulgaria has only taken in 29 migrants from Greece, with 310 applications having been submitted.

Sofia's current commitment involves accepting some 831 people from the southern neighbour by the end of the year.