Federica Mogherini

Developments in the Western Balkans and the European Union membership ambitions of countries in the region were at the center of talks between Alternate Foreign Minister Giorgos Katrougalos and the bloc's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on Wednesday.

Talks were held on the sidelines of the NATO foreign ministers' meeting at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels.

Turkish FM Çavuşoğlu (R) and EU foreign policy chief Mogherini met in Ankara to discuss Turkey's long-lasting EU membership bid on Nov 22.

Tanjug said on Wednesday it learned this unofficially.

Mogherini plans to organize a meeting of prime ministers of the Western Balkans six before the holiday break in Brussels, just as last year.

Tanjug unofficially learned that it could be a working lunch on December 19.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu denounced Greece Friday, claiming it doesn't uphold the rights of the Muslim minority in Western Thrace and doesn't allow its members to call themselves "Turks."

Turkey on Friday criticized the European Union's foreign policy chief for her comments on the rule of law in Turkey, a day after she and another official rebuked Ankara over arrests of journalists and the detention of a Kurdish politician.

The statement was that by introducing 100-percent import fees on goods from Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, Pristina violated the provisions of CEFTA on free trade in the Western Balkans.

She reiterated that Brussels expected the CEFTA secretariat and all sides to take the necessary measures to guarantee that the agreement was honored.

Turkey and the European Union held a "positive, constructive, open and efficient" High Level Political Dialogue meeting on Nov. 22, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said. 

Johannes Hahn and Federica Mogherini

High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission Federica Mogherini

The Italian international conference for Libya in Palermo has kick-started with two meetings for the UNSMIL and Libyan parties discussing economic and security reforms in a row, reported libyaobserver.ly