Italy

Bulgarian exports to the European Union increased by 6% between January and September compared to the same period of last year, national statistics show.

Exports amounted to BGN 23.0345 B in the first nine months of the year, according to preliminary data of the National Statistical Institute (NSI).

The European Union's tug of war over how to share out the burden of caring for asylum-seekers is not over, Slovakia's interior minister said on Friday after six months of trying unsuccessfully to bridge differences between member states.

2016 has been the year when the West desperately started to question whether this was the end of the hegemonic liberal democratic order as we know it. The Brexit vote in the United Kingdom, Donald Trump's election victory in the United States and - as a final ring in the chain - Italy's referendum emerged as strong symbols of rising populism in global politics. 

The EU has recommended that member states return asylum seekers to Greece as of March next year, despite the poor conditions and overcrowding of its refugee facilities.

The European Commission will table a non-binding proposal, Thursday, according to which illegal immigrants that have entered EU countries through Greece could be sent back to Greece. The Commission proposed the measure take effect from mid March, after it had judged that the screening, registration and asylum process in Greece had notably improved.

Matteo Renzi bowed out as Italian prime minister with a combination of jokes, regrets and a strong hint that he wants to lead his party into an early election battle.

Political consultations on forming a caretaker government started on Dec. 8, after Renzi formally submitted his resignation to President Sergio Mattarella following a crushing referendum defeat.

BELGRADE - Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's decision to resign after losing the referendum to amend the Constitution has set the European country on the road to election in 2017. The election may prove to be a semi-final year for the European Union (EU) with founding members Germany, France and Italy going to the polls with strong Eurosceptic and populist candidates in the running.

Turkey's Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) has gathered intelligence via imams from 38 countries on the activities of suspected followers of the U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, widely believed to be the mastermind of the failed July 15 coup attempt. 

BELGRADE - The leaders of the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Canada have voiced readiness to impose sanctions against allies of Syrian President Bashar Assad, according to the White House press service.

Work on the underwater section of the Turkish Stream pipeline will get underway in the second half of next year, Alexei Miller, chief executive of Russian gas giant Gazprom, told journalists on Dec. 6, Reuters reported.