Malta

European Union citizens see immigration as the major challenge facing the bloc currently, according to Spring 2015 Standard Eurobarometer survey published on Friday.

Asking citizens about their main concerns, immigration is now at the top of the most frequently cited topics at EU level, the EU Commission said in a statement summarizing the findings of the survey.

More Europeans say they have a positive image of the European Union and trust in the EU has gone up since last November. In addition, citizens see immigration as the major challenge facing the EU currently. These are some of the results of the latest Standard Eurobarometer survey published on Friday. The survey was carried out between 16 and 27 May 2015 in 34 countries or territories.

Countries such as Italy and Greece dealing with an influx of asylum seekers should receive more support from other member states, MEPs said on a delegation visit to the Italian island of Sicily from July 22-24. “Italy spends over €1 billion every year just to take care of those who make it across the Mediterranean.

Turkey will compete in a relatively easy group in the qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, after it avoided being paired with the powerhouses of European football.

The latest underwater excavation effort this summer on the “Mentor” shipwreck, off the southwestern Aegean island of Kythira investigate whether other antiquities besides the Parthenon Marbles were carried by the vessel when it sank.

This year’s excavations lasted from June 26 to July 12, with efforts focusing on the western boundary of the salvaged shipwreck, towards the bow.

The low-cost airline Wizz Air starts to conduct flights to five new destinations from the Bulgarian capital Sofia from Sunday.

Return flights from Sofia to Bari, Geneva and Cologne will be conducted every Monday and Friday, while the return flights to Memmingen (Munich West) and Naples will be serviced on Wednesdays and Sundays.

According to the EU statistics agency, Croatia saw 2.6 per cent growth in industrial production in May, the highest monthly growth rate in the EU.

The report published on Tuesday said  Lithuania came in second place with growth of 1.7 per cent and Portugal came third with growth of 1 per cent in May.

Genel Energy has put all exploration work on hold for this year to rein in costs, the London-listed oil producer said on July 13, as it is awaits nearly $400 million in oil sales payments from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

While Europe was waking up to a new week, a meeting of Eurozone leaders to decide Greece’s fate has been ongoing in Brussels since Sunday afternoon. Maltese PM Joseph Muscat announced a short “intermission for final consultations” shortly before 7 a.m.

Another form of “Finlandization” has apparently plagued the Eurozone over the weekend and is now viewed as the main obstacle towards achieving a new bailout deal with crisis-stricken Greece, one that would avert the east Mediterranean country’s euro membership meltdown.