Member states of the United Nations

The Romanian defence ministry said in a statement on Monday that a vehicle carrying explosives crashed head-on into the military vehicle in which Claudiu Constantin Vulpoiu and his five fellow servicemen were travelling.

The Romanian troops were on patrol in Zabul province, on the Kabul-Kandahar highway. Vulpoiu, 41, had served in six missions in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Trade turnover between Bulgaria and Romania has exceeded EUR 3 B for 3 years in a row, according to the director of the Commercial Section of the Bulgarian Embassy in Bucharest.

VIENNA - The ties between Austria and Serbia are better than ever and can only be expected to become stronger, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivan Mrkic has said.

"In many areas our cooperation has been exemplary," Mrkic told Tanjug on Thursday after a Serbian delegation headed by President Tomislav Nikolic ended the first day of its official visit to Vienna.

Many Albanians could be let without pensions because so many people have emigrated, a new report from the Ombudsman's office warns.

An estimated one-third of Albania’s 3.2 million population has emigrated in the last two decades, following the collapse of Tirana’s reclusive Communist regime, which did not allow travel abroad.

Bulgarian pensioners become more frequent visitors to Greek islands for Easter. 

A survey of Bulgaria's Darik national radio among tourist agencies found that this spring Greece and Turkey are more preferred by Bulgarians above middle age. 

Bulgaria had the lowest hourly labor costs in the EU in 2013, yet it was the country to register the highest increase in the segment since 2008, according to Eurostat.

According to Eurostat data, in 2013 Bulgaria registered the lowest hourly labor costs among EU member states, at EUR 3.7, followed by Romania with EUR 4.6.

In February 2014, the number of the trips of Bulgarian residents abroad was 249.5 thousand or by 1.4% above the registered in February 2013.

Croatia "won't use bilateral issues" against Serbia

BELGRADE -- Croatia "will not use bilateral issues to impose conditions" on Serbia during the country’s negotiations on EU membership, Gordan Markotić has said.

Croatia's ambassador to Serbia explained that these issues "include border demarcation on the Danube and mutual genocide charges."

Bulgaria and Vietnam will cooperate in the field of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the government press office announced Wednesday.

Bulgarian government approved the draft for cooperation in the field of culture between the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam for the time period 2014-2016.

Bosnia's path to NATO membership is complicated by neighbouring Serbia's unclear attitude towards the alliance, a conference held on March 25 in Sarajevo by the Atlantic Initiative heard.