Member states of La Francophonie

By Stathis Kousounis

The number of Turkish tourists visiting Greece this year is expected reach a historic high, while the corresponding figure for Greek visitors to Turkey is also set to soar.

The latest estimates see over 1 million Turkish tourists visiting Greece – a record number – while Turkey expects Greek visitors to reach 800,000 by year-end.

NOVI SAD - The Serbian parliament condemned on Tuesday the attacks on the property of members of national minorities and called on the government to firmly deal with the individuals who committed the attacks which constitute an incitement to ethnic hatred.

Macedonia on Tuesday said it was boosting subsidies for tour operators focusing on visitors from Bulgaria, Serbia and Bosnia by 25 to 35 euro per tourist.

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UEFA chief on why Serbia and Albania wound up in same group

BELGRADE -- UEFA President Michel Platini has said that Serbia and Albania "never went to war, like Armenia and Azerbaijan."

For that reason, the two countries were not separated ahead of the draw for the 2016 European football championship.

The regions of Sliven and Burgas have the highest percentage of young population, shows data of Eurostat, quoted by Bulgarian-language media.

In the Sliven region the share of people aged below 15 is 17.6% and in Burgas - 15%. The average share of people below 15 in the EU is around 16% of the total population.

Albanian ambassador given strong demarche

BELGRADE -- Albanian Ambassador in Belgrade Ilir Bocka was on Wednesday summoned to the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs where he received a strong demarche.

Switzerland will give Bulgaria a total of CHF 76 M (EUR 63 M) to work toward the reduction of economic and social inequality.

The Swiss grants were confirmed late on Monday, the first day of President Rosen Plevneliev's visit to the country, the news website blick.ch reports, citing the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (EDA).

Bulgaria is to launch a pilot project to incorporate elements of the Swiss dual education system, President Rosen Plevneliev announced.

Plevneliev is on a two-day visit to Switzerland, where he met counterpart Didier Burkhalter, the Swiss president for 2014.

Bulgaria's President Rosen Plevneliev will go on an official visit to Switzerland on October 13-14, the press center of the President's Office announced.

Bulgaria will increase defence spending in line with decisions of the recent NATO summit in Wales to address global challenges, President Rosen Plevneliev said on Friday.

"The crisis in Ukraine returned us to harsh reality," Plevneliev said at a defence industry forum in Sofia attended by senior NATO officials and representatives of Bulgarian military plants and research institutes.