Member states of the Union for the Mediterranean

January 30th marked the 100 year anniversary of the signing of the Lausanne Convention, which led to the forced expulsion of 1.2 million Greek Orthodox Christians from Turkey and 400,000 Muslims from Greece.

January 30 was the centenary of the signing of the Lausanne Convention (also known as the Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations) on the compulsory exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey.

Türkiye, from a geostrategic perspective, is central to NATO and an extremely valuable member since 1952, the top Portuguese diplomat has said, suggesting a closer dialogue between Türkiye and Sweden for the latter's advancement to becoming an alliance member, along with Finland.

The Biden administration on Tuesday reiterated its support for both Finland and Sweden joining NATO at the earliest opportunity, after Helsinki said a pause was needed in trilateral talks with Turkey on the Nordic countries' application to join the military alliance.

Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said in an interview with Yle (Finland's national public broadcasting company) published on Tuesday that his country may seek to join NATO without Sweden if Stockholm's bid is take more time to be approved.

The establishment by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) of a research center on Crete monopolized Secretary-General Mathias Cormann's visit to Athens last week. The center will analyze demographic and migration policies, issues related to the diaspora, as well as individual challenges related to the labor market and the population.

"Protecting the external borders of the European Union is a common commitment of all member states and is key to tackling illegal migration." This was the general position of President Rumen Radev and the Federal Chancellor of the Republic of Austria Karl Nehammer, who talked today in Vienna, reports the press service of the Bulgarian presidency.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry has welcomed the maritime demarcation deal between Israel and Lebanon and underlined it can constitute a good example for the Mediterranean region, particularly for the Turkish and Greek Cypriots.

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar has admitted that he invited his Greek counterpart, Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos, and his wife to Türkiye to create a positive atmosphere amid the increasing tension between the two countries.

"I invited Panagiotopoulos to Türkiye with his wife when we were in Brussels," Akar said during an exclusive interview on Oct. 20.

A business mission of Dutch companies and branch organizations is visiting Bulgaria between 10 and 13 October of this year. The main goal of the mission is to increase Bulgarian production of fresh fruits and vegetables in the next few years by bringing in knowledge and technologies from the Netherlands.