Member states of the Council of Europe

,,We are optimistic about the development of the bilateral relations between Bulgaria and Russia'', the Prime Minister of Russia said, quoted by NOVA TV. 

The Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE) announced that it took note of the decision of Parliament in Budapest to declare 2020 as Year of National Cohesion and, thus, to mark 100 years since the signing of the Treaty of Trianon, but rejects as unfounded, the justifications invoked to promote this declaration.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry on Saturday issued a statement expressing objections to a recent Greek presidential decree stating that the religious leaders of the Muslim minority in northern Greece will be appointed by the state instead of being elected.

US Ambassador in Athens Geoffrey Pyatt on Friday stressed American enterprises' interest in Greek privatizations, especially in ports.

Addressing a conference on mineral wealth, the US diplomat said American companies are hoping to penetrate Greece and make the most of privatization opportunities, citing port sell-offs, energy and the sectors of education and technology.

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.

European Union leaders expressed their solidarity with and full support for Cyprus on Thursday over Turkey's illegal drilling activities by its Fatih vessel within the island's exclusive economic zone (EEZ), and called for measures to be taken against Ankara, which however remained defiant. 

Bulgaria will take the rotating presidency of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation for the second half of 2019.

This will take place at a forum in Azerbaijan, where Tsvetka Karayancheva, National Assembly President, participates.

It will outline the priorities of our country during the presidency of the organization.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras heads to Brussels on Thursday confident that the two-day summit of European Union leaders will agree to take specific measures against Turkey if it continues its "provocative" behavior within Cyprus' exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Greece, along with Cyprus, the European Union and other international actors, is taking all necessary action to address Turkey's activities in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean, Defense Minister Evangelos Apostolakis said Wednesday.
He also spoke about the plan to reorganize the Armed Forces, noting their operational capabilities and dissuasive capacity.

The Council of the European Union has expressed "serious concerns over Turkey's current illegal drilling activities in the Eastern Mediterranean and deplores that Turkey has not yet responded to the European Union's repeated calls to cease such activities."