Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels

The extension of the detention of Fredi Beleri, the recently elected ethnic Greece mayor of Himare in Albania, "is contrary to the common sense of justice and the European concept of the rule of law," the Greek Foreign Ministry underlined in a statement on Monday.

Brussels – During its EU presidency in the second half of the year, Slovenia would like to organise an EU-Western Balkans summit and an informal summit on resilience, Foreign Minister Anže Logar said on Monday, as he attended a session of the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels.

European Union foreign ministers have agreed to a "wait-and-see" approach towards Turkey, with some member-states appearing more skeptical of Ankara's recent overtures.

Europe was considered a trustful partner of the Russian Federation, but after sanctions imposed by the EU this changes, Russian Ambassador Valery Kuzmin stated on Monday.

The diplomat on Monday visited Cluj, on which occasion he told the media that the sanctions imposed on his country by the EU are "illegal" and do nothing else by "strengthen" the Russian Federation.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva is to represent Bulgaria at today's Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels.

The Council will be discussing events in Syria and Venezuela, as well as the situation in Ukraine, with a focus on the upcoming elections in the country. 

Minister of Foreign Affairs Teodor Melescanu on Monday will participate in the meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, where foreign affairs ministers of EU member states are set to discuss topical issues, such as combating disinformation, cooperation between EU - the League of Arab States/LAS and the relation between the EU and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations/ASEAN.

France and the Netherlands are likely to resist the opening of European Union accession negotiations with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and reject the candidacy of Albania at the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels on Monday and Tuesday and the EU summit on Thursday and Friday.