International security

There is no increased presence of NATO's forces in the Black Sea, stated interim head of defence Vice Admiral Emil Eftimov.

According to Eftimov, the focus right now is on training and exercises.

"We focused on optimising training and exercises conducted in the Black Sea region. We do not perceive an escalation or reinforcement in that presence," stated Eftimov.

US Defense Secretary James Mattis delivered an ultimatum to NATO allies during a visit to Europe - increase their military spending, or see America "moderate its commitment" to the alliance.

"I owe it to you all to give you clarity on the political reality in the United States, and to state the fair demand from my country's people in concrete terms," Mattis said.

Some 300 US Marines arrived in Norway on Monday for a rotational deployment in the Scandinavian country, to neighbouring Russia’s dismay amid rising tensions with the West. Officials played down any link between the operation and NATO concerns over Russia, but the deployment coincides with the U.S.

A 70-strong contingent of the Serbian Army (VS), including 25 women, was on Monday seen off to a UN peacekeeping mission.

The Serbian soldiers will join UN's mission in the Central African Republic, MINUSCA.

Serbia's candidate for the position of UN secretary-general has placed second in the fifth round of the informal voting organized at the UN Security Council.

This is according to unofficial information on Monday evening European time.

According to Albanian Defense Minister Mimi Kodheli, NATO has accepted a proposal to open "a center to help prevent" people from joining terrorist groups.

AP reported on Friday that Kodheli said the proposal was approved "a few days ago" and that it came "at a time when the phenomenon of the foreign terrorist fighters has reached considerable levels."

Foreign Ministry officials are reportedly concerned that the recent spate of Turkish violations of Greek air space and waters with military jets and warships could lead to an escalation of tensions between the two neighbors.

The United States began its biggest European deployment of F-22 fighters with a visit to the Black Sea in an exercise aimed at beefing up military support for NATO's eastern European allies who say they face aggression from Russia. 

A Turkish police officer arrived in Chios on Sunday night attempted to use a passport bearing a stamp of pseudo-state of Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus, according to politischios.gr.

Stunning images of Kampia Canyon and the Castle of Oria in northern Chios are shown in a video provided by Panayotis Tzanetis.

The castle of Oria is located on an elevated rock, where the chapel of Agia Paraskevi overlooks the gorge of Kambia, as Chioswalking.gr mentions.