Republics

A recent report from Nova TV highlights Bulgaria's software sector's steady growth and economic importance, even amidst changes in the wider tech scene.

ORMENIO - Army sergeant Christos Giannakidis was planning to have a second child when Greece's debt crisis exploded last decade, straining his finances and erasing hope of extending the family.

One son is expensive enough, he says, especially the cost of ferrying him around his remote corner of northeastern Greece where the number of children has plummeted in recent years.

BELGRADE - Serbian Deputy PM and Defence Minister Milos Vucevic said on Tuesday the heroes of the 1999 Battle of Kosare in Kosovo-Metohija "were, and remained, an impenetrable rampart of our freedom."

On the 25th anniversary of the battle, Vucevic said the heroes of Kosare had risen to the "immortal ranks" of "our ancestors."

BELGRADE - Serbian Minister of Internal and External Trade Tomislav Momirovic said on Tuesday he had written to the trade ministers of EU member states, the UK, the US and CEFTA to warn, for a third time in a year, that Pristina's ban on trade in Serbian goods remained in force in Kosovo-Metohija.

Israel's security is at the "core" of German foreign policy, the U.N.'s highest court heard on Tuesday, where Berlin has denied a claim that it is aiding in a "genocide" in Gaza.

Nicaragua brought Germany before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to demand that judges impose emergency measures to stop Berlin from providing Israel with weapons and other assistance.

The Lebanese caretaker prime minister and the Cypriot president are calling on the European Union to provide financial support to help cash-strapped Lebanon stop migrants from reaching European shores.

Nicaragua and Germany crossed swords at the U.N.'s top court on Monday, with Managua saying Berlin was "pathetic" to supply aid to Gazans while also providing Israel with weapons, a case the top German lawyer dismissed as "grossly biased".

BRUSSELS - The head of Serbia's Mission to the EU Danijel Apostolovic noted on Friday that Serbia had made evident progress on meeting EU accession criteria and that the country was long ready to open Cluster 3 on competition and inclusive growth in its accession talks, which he said were "held hostage by unfortunate and grave geopolitical circumstances."

The visit next week of General Dimitris Houpis, chief of the Hellenic National Defense General Staff, to India will be another step in strengthening bilateral relations between Athens and New Delhi. 

BRUSSELS - The EU special envoy for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, said on Thursday "some gaps" between proposals by the two parties had been bridged in a new round of the Brussels dialogue earlier in the day and that he planned to continue the discussions soon based on EU ideas for compromise.