Multi-speed Europe

Greece unveils its painful 2016 draft budget on Monday in the hope of appeasing its international creditors (EC, ECB, IMF, ESM) and meetings its pledges for the third bailout agreement. The goal of the budget is to navigate Greece on the choppy seas towards growth in 2017.

“Greece is likely to qualify for recapitalization funds for its banks by a Nov. 15 deadline because the payment depends mainly on financial sector reforms that it can implement by then,” euro zone officials told Reuters.

Klaus Regling, managing director of the European Stability Mechanism, said to Financial times that Greece will not be granted large-scale debt relief adding that Greece was already benefiting from generous loan terms that were the most concessionary “in world history”.

We are in the middle of one of the most contradictory moments in history. Two currents are flowing in opposite directions and pulling nation-states at both ends.

Croatia and Serbia traded ugly barbs Sept. 24 and slammed tit-for-tat border restrictions on each other as Hungary started building yet another razor-wire barrier to keep refugees out, this time from neighbouring Slovenia.

Hungary has started building a razor-wire fence along the border with Slovenia to deter a flow of illegal migrants, AP reported on Thursday.

Slovenian state news agency STA said the country wasn't informed in advance of Hungary's plans.

EC says EU members can send migrants to Serbia

The European Commission said on Monday "all EU countries can return to Serbia those migrants from third countries who do not receive asylum in the EU."

This interpretation given today is based on a readmission agreement, according to a Beta agency report.

Romania would have to pay about EUR 20.3 million to host 6,350 refugees for 10 months, as the European Commission requires, according to romania-insider.com.

The news outlet is citing Interior Ministry estimates showing that Romania will have to spend about EUR 1,120 on food and clothing for each refugee plus some EUR 1,085 per migrant for social security expenses.

Romania and Bulgaria are planning to use the migrant crisis, trading their approval of quotas for access to the Schengen borderless area, the Daily Express has claimed.

Riot police fired water cannons and tear gas at migrants demanding to be let through Hungary's newly shut EU frontier on Sept. 16, while refugees at other Balkan borders clambered through cornfields in search of new routes.