Slovakia

Interior and defense ministers from 13 European countries have agreed to come up with new measures to ensure that the overland route from Greece remains shut for migrants seeking new lives in other EU nations.

Austrian Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka and Defense Minister Hans Peter Doskozil say the officials decided to draw up a plan by April for the so-called West Balkans route.

Russia has imposed a temporary ban on poultry imports from 15 European countries, including Bulgaria, over risk of bird flu.

The interior and defense ministers of 13 European nations are meeting in Vienna on ways to prepare for a possible uptick in migrant flows once winter is over.

BELGRADE - Russian President Vladimir Putin has ratified a deal to build the Turkish Stream natural gas pipeline to southern Europe, state media reported on February 7.

According to International Transparency’s Corruption Perception Index, Greece dropped 11 spots on the list of countries seen as corrupt in 2016 compared to 2015. Greece fell to 69th spot from 58 in 2015, according to Greek newspaper Kathimerini.

Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico called on Monday on his counterparts in the remaining EU member-states to stop organising referendums on national problems because these represent a threat to the EU and the Euro.

Disgruntled residents of Dzherman, a village in Western Bulgaria, staged a blockade of the European route E-79 on Monday to protest against the construction of a waste storage facility near their homes.

The Maltese EU presidency "will be committed to the enlargement process."

Malta, which takes over the six-month presidency of the Council of the EU on January 1, will continue where Slovakia has left off in terms of the enlargement policy, the representatives of the Maltese presidency announced in a statement to Tanjug.

The meeting of the Euro Working Group (EWG) ended on Tuesday with no agreement on whether the implementation of the short-term debt relief measures for Greece can go ahead, although the impasse may be overcome if Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos sends a letter of clarification regarding the recent handouts pledged by the government.

BELGRADE - Only one country - Croatia - opposed the opening of Chapter 26 in Serbia's EU accession talks, Serbian PM Aleksandar Vucic told a press conference Tuesday evening after his country opened two new chapters in the talks.