Georgia

The Obama administration has nominated John Bass, the former ambassador to Georgia and a special assistant to Secretary of State John Kerry, to replace the outgoing envoy Francis Ricciardone as the United States’ envoy to Ankara.

Bass needs the Senate’s approval to be appointed to the Turkey post. Ricciardone’s tenure will end in July.

Moscow "ready for dialogue" with Poroshenko

MOSCOW -- Russia is ready for dialogue with Petro Poroshenko, elected as Ukraine's president on Sunday, "but no mediators are necessary," Itar-Tass is reporting.

The news agency quoted a statement issued by Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov on Monday.

Russia's military actions in Ukraine have changed the security situation in Europe dramatically, according to the Secretary General of NATO Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

In an interview with the Romanian Hotnews.ro on Thursday, Rasmussen said that he expected a NATO summit in September to discuss long term measures to enhance the collective defense of member countries.

Georgia will sign a key association agreement with the EU on June 27, according to European Council President Herman Van Rompuy.

He announced the step after talks with Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili in Tbilisi.

The EU would extend the route for supplies through the Southern Gas Corridor and its pipes will make their way further into Europe's mainland, according to reports.

Russia's Vedomosti, which cites sources from the European Commission, suggests that pipes could lead into France and Spain and this could increase the amount of Azerbaijani gas received from the Union.

Russia will respond if its interests in Ukraine are attacked, the country's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday.

The US State Department has released photos purportedly showing the presence of Russian soldiers in Eastern Ukraine.

According to US officials, the photos prove that some of the fighters taking part in Ukraine's recent unrest are actually special forces from Russia and even seemed to have Russian insignia, CNN has reported.

BELGRADE - Belgrade is hosting the International Conference of Young Scientists (ICYS) until April 23, which is an unofficial world championship for research papers from several domains, bringing together high-school students from the entire world.

Bulgaria ranks second after Georgia as the most preferred destination among Turkish residents, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute data.

A total of 7.5 million Turkish citizens traveled abroad in 2013, where they spent USD 5.3M, the statistics showed, cited by the Turkish Haberler.

Land troops of 12 countries will take part in the international military exercise at the Novo Selo range in Bulgaria. 

Saber Guardian, the largest exercise for this year, starts on Friday and will include 700 troops from Bulgaria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, USA, Belgium, Turkey and Ukraine, according to Bulgaria's Defence Ministry.