Germany

Bulgaria's trade with Germany was EUR 5.3 B in 2013, an unprecedented amount for the last 24 years, according to data published Wednesday.

Exports to Germany have also surpassed imports to Bulgaria for the first time since the two states established bilateral relations.

German car parts maker Draexlmaier is to open a new factory in Pitesti, in southern Romania, where it will manufacture components and wiring.

Some 500 people will be hired, adding to the existing some 14,000 people who already work for Draexlmaier in its five Romanian factories, the company said on Tuesday.

SYRIZA MP Manolis Glezos on Tuesday quit Greece's cross-party committee on World War Two reparations, saying that the body had failed to live up to its task.

Glezos, a WWII resistance hero, said that instead of seeking ways to claim German compensation for Nazi crimes, the committee had degenerated into a “study group.”

The German President Joachim Gauck is "still behavings as a pastor" and not as a statesman, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday.

Erdogan also accused Gauck of intervening into Turkey's internal affairs.

In March 2014, the number of trips of Bulgarian residents abroad was 313.4 thousand or by 1.5% above the registered in March 2013.

The State Broadcasting Agency said it was investigating whether to sanction television stations Pink, B92, Prva and Happy because they hosted Kristijan Golubovic, a well-known criminal who is now trying to make a reputation as a visual artist, as a guest on their shows.

BELGRADE - Germany will continue to support Serbia on its path towards the European Union if it meets the requirements of the negotiation framework, said director of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation for Serbia Henri Bohnet.

Negotiators are trying to release a group of observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) being held by pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine.

Germany's defence minister, Ursula von der Leyen, has confirmed that 13 mission members have been arrested, including the observers, their interpreter and driver.

The G7 group of economic powers has agreed to intensify sanctions on Russia over its actions in Ukraine.

A G7 statement gave no detail of the sanctions, but US officials said they could announce measures by Monday, reports BBC.

Meanwhile, negotiators are trying to secure the release of international observers seized by pro-Russia gunmen.

SYRIZA has delayed until next week a meeting of its political secretariat to decide the last of its 42 candidates for the May 25 European Parliament elections after awarding the penultimate spot to veteran leftists and World War Two hero Manolis Glezos.