European Commission

The 2015 draft budget will most likely be referred to Parliament on Friday morning, Prime Minister Victor Ponta announced this Monday.

There is a risk of the European Commission asking Bulgaria to return the sum of EUR 12 M used for the expansion of the Dry Spent Fuel Storage Facility (DSFSF), according to Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova.

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"Serbia belongs in EU," says former EC chief

BELGRADE -- Serbia "should be in the EU and the reforms introduced by the government of PM Aleksandar Vucic are in the interest of the citizens, with or without the EU."

This is according to former European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

Italy and France have expressed irritation with a call from Chancellor Angela Merkel for them to do more to bring their budgets into line with EU rules, telling the German leader to focus on her own economic woes instead of lecturing others.

BELGRADE - Serbia should be in the European Union and the reforms introduced by the government of Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic are in the interest of the citizens, with or without the EU, former European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has said.

New European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini was to meet Turkish leaders Dec. 8 for talks expected to focus partly on the war against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in neighboring Syria.

"The Syrian crisis is going to be one of the key issues on her agenda," an EU official told AFP on Dec. 8. Turkey's EU membership ambitions were also up for discussion.

BELGRADE - Bojan Pajtic, the leader of the opposition Democratic Party (DS), called on ambassadors in Serbia, international organizations, organizations for the protection of human rights and sister organizations of the DS to point out that human rights are being violated and political opponents are being persecuted in Serbia under the veil of the fight against corruption.

Bulgaria's Transport Ministry will invest BGN 12 M in Port Burgas in 2015, according to Minister Ivaylo Moskovski.

Moskovski, as cited by Trud daily, made clear that the funding would be used to build a second module of the Burgas Marine Station and to rehabilitate the jetty.

Prime Minister Victor Ponta reiterated on Saturday that his Government will in no way accept a budget deficit lower than 1.4 percent in the ongoing talks with the International Monetary Fund, the European Commission and the World Bank.

Life expectancy at birth has risen in Greece to reach 80.7 years compared to an EU28 average of 79.2 years, according to a new OECD report.