European Union

Russian energy giant Gazprom has tabled a new option to revive the South Stream pipeline, local media report.

Alternative routes are being studied for South Stream and Nord Stream II which would possibly use private funding, instead of counting on EU support, Vesti Finance quotes Andrey Konoplyanik, adviser to the head of Gazprom Export, as saying.

To back Serbia's further progress on the European path, chapters 23 and 24 in its EU accession talks should be opened as soon as possible.

European Parliament (EP) rapporteur for Serbia, David McAllister, said this in Brussels on Wednesday.

The convincing victory of Aleksandar Vucic and his SNS party in the elections last Sunday was expected, American analysts believe.

They estimate that the result "shows a clear commitment of citizens of Serbia to the pro-EU path."

BELGRADE - Vassily Likhachov, a member of Russia's Central Election Commission (CEC) who led a CEC observation delegation at Sunday's early parliamentary election in Serbia has said that Russia should adopt a special position regarding Serbia as the West were trying to keep the country far away from Russia.
   

Bulgaria's environment has deteriorated in terms of democracy and governance over the past year, lagging behind Romania and remaining last in the EU, an annual index comparing EU members and accession countries shows.

Negotiations between Greece and the Quartet have failed as the lenders’ representatives are reportedly departing from Athens Thursday. The creditors are expected to make an announcement on their interruption of talks with Greece Thursday. Quartet officials said Wednesday, ‘We will return soon’.

The European Union is "not doing Turkey a favor" by potentially granting Turkish citizens visa-free travel to EU member countries, President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an said during an official trip to Croatia on April 27. 

There are three important thresholds or tests ahead of Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu in the next two months which can be decisive for Turkey in closing the gap with the West.

"The real litmus test" for Turkey in terms of relations with the European Union will be accession negotiations if the country truly wants to become a member of the 28-member club, a senior EU figure has said.

When I tried to organize a workshop on EU-Turkey relations a few years ago, I was criticized by my colleagues, an academic working in southern Antalya's Akdeniz (Mediterranean) University told me recently." Are you a spy of the EU? Are you making money off that?" I was asked some times, she said.