Venezuela

Ljubljana – Slovenia has made no headway in the 2020 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) compiled annually by Transparency International (TI). Like in 2019, Slovenia ranked 39th among 180 countries included in the index. With a score of 60 points, it once again fell short of the EU average of 64 points and the OECD average of 67 points.

Minister Bogdan Aurescu will participate, on Monday, in the meeting of the foreign ministers of the EU member states, which will take place in Brussels, among the topics of discussion being the EU strategy for distributing vaccines to third countries, the Navalny case, prospects for strengthening Transatlantic relations, recent developments in relations with Turkey, the Gulf region, Hong Kong,

The Trump administration on Jan. 11 re-designated Cuba as a "state sponsor of terrorism," in a move that hits the country with new sanctions shortly before President-elect Joe Biden takes office.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the step, citing in particular Cuba's continued harboring of U.S. fugitives as well as its support for Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.

The gesture makes Maradona the latest in a long list of global celebrities and political figures to be honored with an obituary in the Balkans, following the likes of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro, pop star Michael Jackson and actor James Gandolfini, late star of the popular US crime drama Sopranos.

Turkey on Dec. 22 announced a new initiative for immigrants in the northwestern province of Bursa to help them adjust to the country.

"We began social life and adaptation training in Istanbul in 2019. We will start in Bursa from January," said Aydın Kadıoğlu, head of the Compliance and Communication Department at the General Directorate of Migration Management.

The US has placed export restrictions on more than 100 Chinese and Russian companies with alleged military ties.

US exporters will be required to get a licence before they transfer "designated items" to companies on the blacklist. The list includes a large number of Chinese aerospace companies as well as Russia's foreign intelligence service.

Ljubljana – The repatriation of ethnic-Slovenian residents of Venezuela was suspended in March following the outbreak of coronavirus, but it was re-launched in autumn, when 13 persons arrived in Slovenia, the Government Office for Slovenians Abroad has announced.

A total of 36 persons have been repatriated so far. They have all been accommodated in private housing and feel well.

Serbia on Monday was among 17 countries that voted against the latest United Nations resolution calling on Russia to withdraw its forces from Ukraine's Crimean peninsula, which Moscow occupied and then annexed in 2014.

The agenda of the last meeting of the EU Council includes a discussion of relations with the United States, Turkey, Venezuela, Georgia, as well as issues of developing the EU's strategic autonomy

Romania's Foreign Ministry (MAE) will open 748 polling stations abroad for the December 6 election to the Romanian Senate and Chamber of Deputies that will meet the health protection requirements to contain COVID-19, up 331 from the previous general election in 2016, MAE's official in charge with special electoral tasks Iulian Ivan.