Foreign relations

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will visit Türkiye on June 22, a senior Turkish official told AFP on June 17, as Ankara and Riyadh move on from the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The small, in length, but strategically important IGB pipeline, which connects the Bulgarian system with the Greek natural gas transmission system and the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), will start commercial operation, next month, in July. Today (17 June) the pipeline will undergo final testing  with the introduction of the last quantities of 1.5 million cubic meters of gas.

The European Commission opened two new criminal proceedings against Britain on Wednesday after London announced plans to unilaterally repeal some post-Brexit rules governing trade in Northern Ireland.

The top Chinese and US security advisers have held lengthy talks, with both sides describing them as "candid" following days of acrimonious exchanges over Taiwan and other flashpoint issues.

Germany, the United Kingdom and France on June 9 urged Iran to "cease its nuclear escalation" and "urgently conclude the deal currently on the table" to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement.

"There has been a viable deal on the table since March," they said in a joint statement.

Deputy Minister Hardalias will meet with Bulgaria’s Minister in his stead

Iran plans to install two new cascades of advanced centrifuges that will allow Tehran to rapidly enrich more uranium, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog said Thursday, the latest escalation in the standoff over the country's atomic program.

The upcoming Bonn Climate Change Conference is set to kick off next week at the World Convention Center in Bonn, Germany, and is designed to prepare for the UN Climate Change Conference COP27 which is scheduled for November this year in Egypt.

As the Russia-Ukraine conflict entered its fourth month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that 50 embassies have resumed operations in Kyiv, Ukraine, and termed it a testament to their faith in the country's victory.

President Joe Biden's special envoy for North Korea said Friday the United States is "preparing for all contingencies" in close coordination with its South Korean and Japanese allies as it monitors North Korean arrangements for a possible nuclear test explosion that outside officials say could be imminent.