Iceland

The European Commission has proposed to the European Parliament and EU governments to scrap visa requirements for Turkish citizens provided that Turkey will fulfil the outstanding benchmarks of its Visa Liberalisation Roadmap.

The European Commission is today proposing to the European Parliament and Council of the European Union to lift the visa requirements for the citizens of Turkey, under the understanding that the Turkish authorities will fulfill the outstanding benchmarks of its Visa Liberalization Roadmap.

The distribution of new biometric passports containing chips, which are necessary to travel to Schengen countries, will start on June 1, with the government working on the necessary legal regulations. 

The new passports are among the 72 criteria required by the body for granting visa exemption to Turkish citizens in light of a Turkey-EU migrant deal signed on March 20.

Bulgaria's environment has deteriorated in terms of democracy and governance over the past year, lagging behind Romania and remaining last in the EU, an annual index comparing EU members and accession countries shows.

A new report from the Bahçe?ehir University Center for Economic and Social Research (BETAM) has revealed that in 2014 over 7 million children lived in households which suffered from severe material deprivation in Turkey. 

Bulgaria spends far more on defense as a share of its GDP compared to Germany, Italy, and Canada, NATO data shows.

A CNN Money report, which includes Alliance data about military expenditures, cites NATO statistics according to which Bulgaria, with spending at 1.20% of GDP, ranks 12th out of 28 member states.

It is still far behind the 2% target adopted in 2014.

Spain's industry minister resigned April 15 after he was named in the Panama Papers and other media revelations that claimed he had links to offshore firms, the latest political victim from the global scandal.

Greece ranked 29th among the best countries in the world for visiting, according to the readers of British newspaper Telegraph.

It is also chosen as the second most popular tourist destination in Mediterranean by British travelers.

Reza Zarrab, an Iranian-born Turkish businessman who was arrested in Miami on March 19 over Iran-related sanction charges, will serve time in four different prisons during his transfer from Miami to New York. He will be transferred via bus, U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York's Chief Public Information Officer James Margolin stated.  

Police on April 12 raided the headquarters of the Panama law firm whose leaked documents have unleashed a global scandal over how the world's elite use offshore companies to hide their wealth.