Malta

In its spring forecast, the European Commission says Croatia is finally starting to come out of economic crisis after six years.

The prognosis estimates that Croatia will record 0.3 per cent growth in its GDP in 2015, after six years of continuous fall. In its winter forecast, issued in February, the Commission predicted slightly lower growth of 0.2 per cent in 2015.

"What's emerging is what we need,which is a comprehensive plan, going after the criminal gangs, going after the traffickers, going after the owners of the boats...and stabilising the countries from which these people are coming." And when you have finished "stabilising" Syria, Somalia and Libya, overthrowing the Eritrean dictatorship, and ending poverty in West Africa, could you drop by and fix

Nikolic receives credentials from five new ambassadors

BELGRADE -- President Tomislav Nikolic received on Monday the letters of credence from the newly appointed ambassadors of Bangladesh, Uruguay, Malta, Jamaica and Laos.

They serve as non-resident ambassadors to Serbia.

Another five hundred irregular migrants managed to land on the east Aegean island of Lesvos over the last 24 hours, according to local media and coast guard authorities, while three migrant-smuggling vessels were located just outside the island of Kos, further south.

Greece was left in no doubt at Friday?s Eurogroup that it is running out of time and its lenders out of patience as they attempt to conclude negotiations so 7.2 billion euros in bailout funding can be disbursed.

The doubling of aid to Mediterranean countries to help with the rise in the number of undocumented migrants is one of the main things Greece can take away from Thursday?s European Union leaders? summit on the migration crisis, according to Alternate Minister for Migration Policy Tasia Christodoulopoulou.

The European Union has doubled the emergency aid to frontline member states Italy, Greece and Malta which have to deal with the massive influx of migrants coming across the Mediterranean to 50 million euros ($54 million) a year.

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By Alastair Macdonald & Philip Pullella

European Union leaders will effectively reverse a cutback in rescue operations the Mediterranean on Thursday to try to prevent record numbers of people drowning as they try to flee war and poverty in the Middle East and Africa.

European Union leaders are discussing plans to double financial sources to save lives in the Mediterranean where hundreds of migrants have drowned in recent days, and to capture and destroy vessels which could be used for trafficking, according to a draft statement prepared for Thursday's summit.