Syria

Militant Islamists living in the European Union have tried to cross Greece’s borders on their way to back the armed struggle against the Assad regime in Syria, Greek security officials have told Sunday’s Kathimerini.

Kosovo is our Jerusalem, minister tells Israeli daily

JERUSALEM -- Aleksandar Vulin, minister in charge of Kosovo in Serbia's caretaker government, has said that Kosovo has both economic and strategic significance for Serbia.

But above all, he told the Jerusalem Post in an interview given ahead of last weekend's elections, it is "the soul of the Serb people."

The UN refugee agency issued a report saying there was a sharp rise in asylum claims in 44 industrialized countries in 2013. driven primarily by the crisis in Syria.

UNHCR's "Asylum Trends 2013" report says 612,700 people applied for asylum in North America, Europe, East Asia and the Pacific in 2013, which is the highest total for any year since 2001.

Turkey's state-run Anadolu News Agency reported on Friday that Interior Minister Efkan Ala had said two of the arrested "terrorists" were Albanian nationals, while the third was from Kosovo. 

The shoot-out in the central Turkish province of Nigde on Thursday left three people dead, including a soldier and a police officer.

Albania arrests alleged jihad recruiting group

Officials are trying to prevent imams and others from recruiting Muslims to fight in foreign conflicts.

Muslims arrive at a Tirana mosque whose imam, Genci Balla, and six others were arrested on charges of recruiting believers to join the Syria conflict. [AFP]

NATO terminates its practical cooperation with Russia, because of the tensions in Ukraine. 

According to NATO's Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, quoted by the Russian wire agency ITAR-TASS, currently NATO is reconsidering its cooperation with Russia. 

Cyprus routinely detains asylum seekers and refugees in prison-like conditions, sometimes breaking European Union law by holding them for more than an 18-month maximum, Amnesty International said on Monday.

The amendment initiated by the ministry of justice follows reports that a growing number of Albanian citizens have joined radical Islamist groups fighting in the Syrian civil war.

“It’s a step in the right direction,” Arjan Dyrmishi, a security expert with the Albanian Institute of Democracy and Mediation told Balkan Insight.  

Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias used his appearance at a meeting of Med Group diplomats in Paris on Friday to stress the geopolitical importance of Greece?s eurozone partners helping to prevent the country?s economic collapse.

BELGRADE - Ivan Mrkic, Serbia's outgoing minister of foreign affairs, attended a dinner in Brussels organized by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton for foreign ministers of EU member states and candidate countries, the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated on Tuesday.