Member states of the Union for the Mediterranean

Minister of Economy Petko Nikolov highlighted the potential economic benefits of Bulgaria's full accession to the Schengen Area, estimating it could generate up to BGN 1.3 billion annually, as reported by the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR).

Greece has highlighted the tangible positive outcomes of the rapprochement with Türkiye.

Speaking at an international forum on sustainable peace in Athens, Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis said, "I want to emphasize that being able to talk with our neighbors serves the country's interests."

With the 50th anniversary of Turkey's bloody invasion of Cyprus coming up on July 20, Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler on Tuesday said his country is preparing to celebrate what he said was a "peace operation" on the divided Eastern Mediterranean island.

Montenegro, Bosnia and most of Croatia's Adriatic coast where temperatures approached 40 degrees Celcius, experienced a major power blackout on Friday, according to Montenegro power distributor CEDIS and local media.

"Almost the entire area of Montenegro is without power due to network outages," CEDIS said on its Facebook page.

Cyprus reacted with incredulity on Thursday to warnings from Lebanon's Hezbollah that the island could be dragged into conflict if tensions with Israel blew up into a fully-fledged war.

Turkey plans to establish its own marine parks in the Aegean Sea, a Turkish pro-government daily newspaper has reported.

Daily Sabah quotes an anonymous Turkish official who stated that Turkey's Transportation and Infrastructure Ministry plans to map out its own marine parks in the region, in response to Greece's decision to create a marine park in the Aegean.

Greece's Maritime Affairs Minister Christos Stylianides and Cyprus' Shipping Deputy Minister Marina Hadjimanolis met with delegations from their respective ministries in Limassol to discuss bilateral maritime issues.

The European Union will offer economic aid to Lebanon when the European Commission and Cypriot presidents jointly visit Beirut on Thursday, a Cypriot official has said.

Cyprus has grown increasingly concerned at a sharp increase in the number of Syrian refugees making their way to the island. Lebanon, a mere 185 km away from Cyprus, hosts hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees.

The "Blue Homeland" doctrine which envisages Turkish influence over large swaths of the Mediterranean and other seas at the expense of other countries in the region, including Greece, will be taught during the next school year, local media revealed.

Endy Zemenides, the Executive Director of the Hellenic American Leadership Council, joins Thanos Davelis to recap the main takeaways from last week's Delphi Economic Forum in Greece, where HALC had an important presence, leading discussions on the role of the diaspora, the importance of Cyprus, the Middle East post October 7th, and the future direction of American foreign policy.