Member states of the European Union

By Barbara Lewis

Europe's inland and coastal waters have become cleaner and nations such as heavily-indebted Greece and Cyprus boast some of the most pristine bathing spots, according to this year's EU report on water quality, published on Wednesday.

German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel warned the Greek government that Greece could only get further funds if it carried out reforms in a German newspaper interview published on May 17.

Around two million Brits visit Greece every year from May to September. Warnings from the U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Office  warning Brits that they should have cash handy on their trip in case ATM’s are shut down due to a default have done little to discourage tourism.

AGERPRES correspondent Carmen Marinescu reports: Bulgarian Tourism Minister Nikolina Angelkova estimates that a memorandum initialled with the Romanian Government might increase the number of Asian tourists, especially Chinese, to this part of the world.

European Parliament President Martin Shulz told German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine that the EU is willing to continue financially assisting Greece but only if Athens seizes the opportunity.

With its public-debt levels among the lowest in the EU and government pledges to cut the budget deficit "Bulgaria has been partly shielded" from the sharp drop in stock and bond prices on global markets this week, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

According to forecasts of the European Commission, the population of Bulgaria will decrease to 5.5 million by 2060.

This was revealed by the 2015 Ageing Report: Economic and budgetary projections for the 28 EU Member States in the period 2013-2060, which was published on Tuesday.

The Greek economy returned to recession in the first quarter of 2015, according to data by the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) at noon on Wednesday. The figures show 0.2% recession. Simultaneously, the forecast for development has been cut to 0.3% as the European Commission in its spring assessment for Greece estimated 0.5% growth with the government expecting development at 1%.

Bulgaria is potentially exposed to a Grexit contagion more than its neighbors in Southeast Europe, a Morgan Stanley report argues.

"While the direct economic impact of a Grexit looks manageable, we think that the banks are by far the most serious potential channel of contagion," Morgan Stanley Research analysts are quoted as saying, in a Bloomberg article authored by Slav Okov.

Romanian Foreign Affairs minister Bogdan Aurescu will be on Thursday on a working visit to Budapest, at the invitation of his Hungarian counterpart, Peter Szijjarto, a press release by the Foreign Affairs Ministry reads.

Photo: (c) Alex TUDOR / AGERPRES Photo