Romania

European Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou has announced the launch of a formal investigation of London's decision to suspend grants and loans to Bulgarian and Romanian students.

Since joining the EU in 2007, Bucharest has received around 21.3 billion euro from European funds compared to its contribution of some 10.6 billion euro, the Romanian Central Bank has said.

Region calls for diplomatic solution of Ukrainian crisis

Diplomacy is the only way out of the deadlock in Crimea, officials say.

The wives of Ukrainian soldiers hold a banner reading "No War" during a rally outside the Sevastopol tactical military brigade base in Sevastopol. [AFP]

The US is preparing military exercises in Poland, said US ambassador to Poland, Stephen Mull. 

According to Mull, they would included  Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria and the Baltics.

Polish radio station Radio Zet, quoted by Reuters, said Mull told them that the exercise will take place in the Lask base in central Poland. 

Significant amounts of natural gas could be extracted from Bulgaria's Khan Asparuh deep-water block, OMV believes.

Austrian energy company's expectations have so far been fomented by the discovering of vast amounts of gas at Neptun, a deep-water block in neighboring Romania situated next to Khan Asparuh.

BELGRADE – Belgrade-based cultural organization Mikser, in association with the Croatian Design Association and Public Room from Skopje, announced results of the Young Balkan Designers 2014 competition on Thursday.

Land troops of 12 countries will take part in the international military exercise at the Novo Selo range in Bulgaria. 

Saber Guardian, the largest exercise for this year, starts on Friday and will include 700 troops from Bulgaria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, USA, Belgium, Turkey and Ukraine, according to Bulgaria's Defence Ministry.

Gas prices for industrial consumers in Romania will rise by a thumping 24 per cent as of next month, with a sharp impact likely on industry and jobs, experts say.

The move is part of a deregulation schedule agreed with international lenders including the International Monetary Fund, IMF and the World Bank.

Romanian officials on Tuesday expressed support for the government of neighbouring Moldova and urged Russia not to encourage separatists in Moldova's Transdniester region in their quest to join Russia.

“Romania together with its EU and NATO partners should show their commitment to supporting Moldova’s independence and territorial integrity,” Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta said.

A Bulgarian company developing online products is set for expansion at a European level.

Getlokal has decided to step into the European market with its social media which aims at sharing consumers' feedback on visited location, according to Bulgarian website Money.bg.