Malta

The meeting of the Monitoring Group on Democracy, Fundamental Rights and the Rule of Law in the European Parliament, at which the situation in Bulgaria will once again be discussed, will take place on 8 January, MEP Elena Yoncheva wrote on her Facebook page.

A little over 41 percent of Bulgarians live in overcrowded dwellings, according to the latest data from the European statistical office Eurostat. This means that they do not have sufficient number of rooms for the size of their household.

Koper – Croatia should first come to an agreement with Slovenia on the implementation of the border arbitration award in line with international law and only then expand its rights at sea, international maritime law professor Marko Pavliha told the STA in reference to Croatia’s plans to declare an exclusive economic zone in the Adriatic Sea.

British American Tobacco Hellas is planning significant investments and the creation of 200 new jobs in Greece, Vitali Kochenko, the company's chairman and CEO, told an Economist conference on Thursday.

Kochenko said, through its business activity, BAT's goal is to create a better future for adult consumers, for society and its workers.

Germany and Bulgaria were the most vocal among the EU countries who blocked sanctions against Turkey at the EU summit on Thursday (10 December), reports EURACTIV.

"German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov were the EU leaders who openly opposed sanctions against Ankara," the sources said.

Greece will need to overcome one of Spain and Sweden to have any hopes of making it to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The draw that took place on Monday for the European qualifiers of the tournament to be held in Qatar in two years' time has placed the Greek men's national team in the same group as Spain, Sweden, Georgia and Kosovo.

Romania's Foreign Ministry (MAE) will open 748 polling stations abroad for the December 6 election to the Romanian Senate and Chamber of Deputies that will meet the health protection requirements to contain COVID-19, up 331 from the previous general election in 2016, MAE's official in charge with special electoral tasks Iulian Ivan.

The number of Romanians abroad confirmed with a novel coronavirus infection held steady at 6,914 and so did the death toll at 127, the Strategic Communication Group (GCS), the official novel coronavirus communication task force, announced on Tuesday.

The four European Union countries hardest hit by the arrival of hundreds of thousands of unauthorized migrants over the past five years said Thursday they fear that new proposals to revamp the EU's asylum system will continue to leave them shouldering most of the burden.

Greece, Italy, Spain and Malta, which have borne the brunt of the European Union's migration crisis, have sent a joint memorandum outlining their positions regarding the bloc's new Pact on Migration and Asylum to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.