Brussels summit

Greece and Turkey have agreed to focus efforts on easing tensions in the Aegean, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on July 12 after meeting Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan on the sidelines of a NATO summit.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will attend his first major international summit since his re-election on July 11 when he attends the NATO heads of state and government meeting in Brussels.

NATO members have increased defense spending in general, but European countries are having difficulties meeting a target of 2 percent of GDP demanded by US President Donald Trump. Germany is a long way off.

Only three NATO members from the EU are meeting defense spending goals, the military alliance said in its annual report on Thursday.

Head of State Rumen Radev congratulated Angela Merkel on her re-election and for the fourth time as Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany.

"As a country, President of the Council of the European Union, Bulgaria relies and hopes for your active support for the successful realization of the goals and priorities we have set ourselves," the Bulgarian President said.

Deputy Prime Minister for Public Order and Security and Defense Minister Krasimir Karakachanov is on a working visit to Brussels.

He participates in the meeting of NATO defense ministers. Deputy Prime Minister Karakachanov is expected today to hold talks with US Defense Secretary James Matisse.