International relations

Iran's Revolutionary Guard said on June 20 it had shot down a U.S. "spy drone" over its territory after it violated Iranian airspace, according to Iranian state television.

The European integration of the Western Balkan countries and the engagement with the neighboring regions should be a key priority of the European Union, Bulgaria's Deputy Premier and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva said at the EU Foreign Ministers Summit in Luxembourg. The enlargement policy has proved its transformative power.

Stopping attacks by the Syrian regime is the responsibility of Russia and Iran as guarantor states of peace, Turkey's foreign minister said on June 16, hours after an Assad regime attack on a Turkish observation post in northwestern Syria.       

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has reiterated that concession on the procurement of S-400 air defense systems from Russia was out of question, in a statement he made after a meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Tajikistan.

President Vladimir Putin said in an interview published on June 13 that relations between Moscow and Washington were getting worse and worse, noting that the current U.S. administration had imposed dozens of sanctions on Russia.

Bill Clinton was honoured by Kosovo on Tuesday for his role in ordering the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, which led to the end of the war 20 years ago.

Turkish officials have told daily Hürriyet that there was no change regarding Turkey's stance on an S-400 missile defense deal with Russia.

Several hundred thousand people jammed Hong Kong's streets on June 9 in a last bid to thwart a proposed extradition law that would allow suspects to be sent to China to face trial, with police bracing for the biggest march in the city in 15 years.

Turkey and Canada signed a memorandum of understanding on June 8 to strengthen relations in the fields of trade, industry, services and investment.

Romania will stay deeply committed to supporting the UN, and the campaign for obtaining a non-permanent member seat in the UN Security Council "has consolidated the international profile" of our country, reads a Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE) release sent to AGERPRES on Friday.