Member states of the European Union

About 95,000 tourists were officially registered in Romanian seaside resorts during the last weekend in July, which was a record for this year’s holiday season so far.

But the numbers of visitors are lower compared to the same weekend in 2013, when around 165,000 tourists were registered.

The role of Greece and Cyprus as “pillars of stability and security in the region” was highlighted by SYRIZA chief Alexis Tsipras in comments made following a meeting with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades in Athens on Tuesday.

In June 2014, the number of trips of Bulgarians abroad was 411.1thousand or by 7.3% above the registered in June 2013, the National Statistical Institute reports.

A total of 49.3% of all Bulgarians live below the poverty threshold, a survey by Greek statistical institute EL.STAT shows.

Greece ranks fourth among EU countries in terms of the highest percentage of citizens living on the poverty line, Bulgarian Telegraph Agency informs.

The Ministry of Defense has announced the building of a fence designed to curb the influx of migrants at Bulgaria's border with Turkey has finished.

Over the next days, the Chief Directorate Border Police is take over all sections of the installation, the construction of which had been assigned to the Defense Ministry.

Refugee numbers are increasing again, according to Nikolay Chirpanliev, Chair of the Bulgarian State Agency for Refugees.

Chirpanliev announced in a Monday interview for the Bulgarian National Radio that some 500 people entered Bulgaria on a monthly basis.

He claimed that the EU was using double standards towards EU Member States with external borders.

Romanians and Bulgarians tried to defraud the European Union of 45.8 million euro of funds last year, according to the European Commission report, “Fight Against Fraud 2013”, released last week.

Romania reported 109 false claims, worth 36.6 million euro, while Bulgarian officials uncovered 97 false claims worth a total of 9.4 million euro, the statistics show.

Greek Development Minister Nikos Dendias has called on citizens to withdraw their assets from foreign banks and return them the country.

By accepting the offer, they will be exempted from a fine for tax evasion, Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) Thessaloniki correspondent Katya Peeva quoted Dendias as saying.

Greece needs more funding from the European Union to deal with the increased flow of undocumented immigrants in the eastern Aegean, Public Order Minister Vassilis Kikilias said in an interview with Sunday’s Kathimerini.

According to the minister, there has been an 800 percent increase in the number of irregular migrants reaching Greece via boat from Turkey over the last two years.

Detlef Lingemann, the German Ambassador to the Czech Republic, is the successor to outgoing Matthias Hoepfner, who represented the country in Bulgaria, reports say.

The information came from the website Dnevnik.bg, which quoted Germany's Foreign Ministry as confirming his appointment.