Member states of the Council of Europe

Bulgaria's Agriculture Minister Desislava Taneva announced that the European Commission is not going to compensate dairy producers, who have been affected by the sanctions imposed on Russia.

Last week dairy producers said they would demand support from the Commission as their earnings have decreased since Russia imposed an embargo from the EU.

PM visits Finland, says Serbia "wants to be like it"

Helsinki -- Aleksandar Vucic was in Helsinki on Monday to discuss "Serbia's EU integration, chairmanship of the OSCE, relations in the region and the situation in Ukraine."

The Serbian prime minister was meeting with his Finnish counterpart Alexander Stubb.

BELGRADE - A trilateral meeting of the foreign ministers of Serbia, Albania and Italy, on Belgrade-Tirana relations and regional cooperation, was held in Rome on Friday.

The meeting was organized at the initiative of Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni, and the participants included the foreign ministers of Serbia and Albania Ivica Dacic and Ditmir Bushati.

Described by its organizers as a celebration of friendship, the Photography of the Year BiH Festival is opening in Sarajevo's iconic City Hall on Friday.

It is expected to draw numerous photographers and enthusiasts from across the region and beyond.

Albania sees its relations with neighbouring Macedonia as strategic and is ready to support its sovereignty, according to Ilir Meta, Speaker of the Parliament of Albania.

Bulgaria will demand measures in support of all dairy producers in the EU at the official meeting of the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council to be held on 26 January.

This course of action was approved on Wednesday by the Bulgarian government.

BELGRADE - Positive economic growth is expected this year throughout the region, with the exception of Serbia, whose gross domestic product is projected to drop by 0.5%, according to the World Bank's latest South East Europe Regular Economic Report.

BUDAPEST, Jan 20 (Tanjug) - Officials of the Serbian and Hungarian ministries of agriculture have agreed to set up expert working groups to work on boosting agricultural production, soil protection and food safety, as well as on ways to maximise the use of EU funds, Serbian Minister of Agriculture and Environmental Protection Snezana Bogosavljevic Boskovic said on Tuesday.

Spain's ambassador to Turkey has refuted media reports suggesting that his country has suspended its activities in the "Alliance of Civilizations" jointly launched by Ankara and Madrid. 

Bulgaria's Minister of Tourism Nikolina Angelkova announced on Friday that the division of the country into 9 tourist regions will take place until the end of January.

Angelkova said that the topic will be discussed in detail at the next meeting of the National Tourism Council which will take place next week, electronic daily Dnevnik reports.