Europe

The leaders of the USA, Germany, France, Italy, Britain and Spain are meeting in Berlin in a mini-Summit to discuss matters of global economic and political interest.

Turkish President Recep Erdogan has criticised Europe harshly and insisted on a quick and final position with respect to the membership of Turkey in the EU, reported BGNES.

Environmental conservation group WWF Greece on Thursday called for more public education in the protection of the country's forests after data from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) put 2016 as the fifth worst year for fires in a decade.

BELGRADE - US Vice-President Joe Biden says Europe could walk away from sanctions against Russia, unless Ukraine makes progress with economic and political reforms. At least five countries want to drop the sanctions, he warned.

BELGRADE - The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) will be the most efficient support to anyone who wants to strengthen the European policy in Serbia, but it does not necessarily have to be in the government, LDP leader Cedomir Jovanovic said Tuesday.

Serbian head of state Tomislav Nikolic has described Europe as "a necessary evil" in an interview with Serbian-language Sputniknews.

He has asserted that it is impossible to govern the country without cooperation with both Russia and the EU.

"There are no eurofanatics in Serbia... there might be Russophiles indeed, but true eurofanatics - no," he has explained.

Some 88,300 unaccompanied minors sought asylum in the European Union in 2015, 13 percent of them children younger than 14, crossing continents without their parents to seek a place of safety, EU data showed on Monday.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel reportedly told Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe last year that his country could joint NATO counting on her support.

"Shinzo, why not join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization? I can convince British Prime Minister Cameron and French President Hollande," The Japan Times, the country's biggest English-language paper, quotes Merkel as saying.

Jordan's Queen Rania on Monday called for "legal" paths into Europe for refugees, criticizing the EUs controversial deal with Turkey which she said endangers lives.

"The deep concern is that many of the refugees...will now start to seek more dangerous routes," Queen Rania said in reference to the EU-Turkey deal agreed in March to stem the migration flow.

At the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit in Istanbul, it was proposed that a "European Muslims group" should be formed. There is an Asia group, an Arab group and an Africa group in the OIC, so why should there not be a Europe group? 

Of course, when one says "Islam" and "Europe," colossal issues and hopes come to mind.