Georgia

NATO is boosting its presence in the Black Sea, the organization's Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said after a meeting with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal. The alliance attributed this move to the allegedly growing Russian threat. Kiev and NATO plan to hold joint military drills in Odessa this year, Izvestia writes.

Georgian authorities, in cooperation with US anti-trafficking authorities, busted an organized criminal group. 40 kg of heroin was seized, Russian and Georgian media reported, quoted by BNR.

According to the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs, the action was carried out for two months, two Bulgarian citizens were detained.

Prime Minister Ludovic Orban had a meeting with his Georgian counterpart, Giorgi Gakharia, on Friday, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, in which context the Romanian official thanked his counterpart for the active involvement of his country in the Black Sea-Caspian transport route.

Bulgaria and Georgia to re-open Sofia-Tbilisi direct flight. This was made clear after a meeting between Transport Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov and Georgian Prime Minister Georgy Gakharia. The Transport Minister participated in the Silk Road forum, which brought together ministers, business representatives and experts in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.

Labor and Social Policy Minister Bisser Petkov and Georgia's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Tamara Liluashvili discussed the preparation of administrative procedures for the implementation of the Agreement on the Regulation of Labor Migration between Bulgaria and Georgia, which was signed in Tbilisi on September 30.

Georgia and Russia traded blame on June 21 for an outbreak of unrest in Tbilisi sparked by the visit of a Russian lawmaker with the Kremlin announcing it would suspend passenger flights between the two countries to protect its citizens. 

President Vladimir Putin signed a decree prohibiting airlines from July 8 from transporting Russians to Georgia and recommended that tour operators not sell packages for excursions to the Caucasus state. The head of state also ordered the government to secure the return of the Russians temporarily residing in Georgia.

With the support of Turkey's state-run agency, a group of 40 Ahıska Turks living in Kazakhstan returned to their homeland in Georgia's Meskheti region after 75 years.

Turkey's national defense minister arrived in Georgia on May 26 for ceremonies marking its Independence Day, the 101st anniversary of the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Georgia.

"Bulgaria will continue to support Georgia on its way to the EU, we appreciate what you have achieved and you can count on our help in the future".