World

BELGRADE - Serbia and Guinea-Bissau are brotherly countries and we will continue to build their long-standing relations, Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embalo said in Belgrade on Thursday.

BELGRADE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic met with President of Guinea-Bissau Umaro Sissoco Embalo in Belgrade on Thursday.

At a press conference with Embalo, Vucic said they had discussed significant matters, including preservation of territorial integrity.

BELGRADE - The Serbian economy has shown resilience in the face of strong headwinds from high food and energy prices, weak trading partner growth, and tight global financial conditions, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Wednesday after its mission completed the first review under a stand-by arrangement with Serbia.

The Greek and Turkish Defense ministers, Nikos Panagiotopoulos and Hulusi Akar, conveyed a message on Tuesday on the need to keep communication channels between Athens and Turkey open, and, in the long term, to create conditions for cooperation.

"Our initial self-assessment showed that Bulgaria meets OECD standards to a high degree. With maximum internal mobilization, we have the ability to complete the accession process in about three years." This was commented by Caretaker Prime Minister Galab Donev at a joint press conference with OECD Secretary-General Matthias Korman.

Since 2015, when migrants and refugees from the Middle East, Asia and Africa began crossing the Balkans in significant numbers, Trieste has been a hub for those trying to reach bigger Italian cities or continue deeper into Western Europe.

Their soldiers battling and dying across muddy trenches, ruined towns and sprawling minefields, Russia and Ukraine have stepped up recruitment drives to bolster their badly depleted militaries, in another sign that both sides are steeling themselves for a long war.

In an announcement on Thursday, the Union of Greek Shipowners welcomed the Green Deal Industrial Plan initiative, which is part of the European Union's Green Deal for net-zero emissions and the relevant legislative proposals.

Criminal Ties

Montage by BIRN

In 2015, North Macedonia took what was then both a revolutionary and controversial step in the region by legalizing the cultivation of cannabis for medicinal purposes. Since 2017, the industry truly took off in the country, encouraged by a government which saw it as an economic growth opportunity.

Greece's defense minister announced Thursday that he will travel to neighboring Turkey next week as part of an effort to ease tension between the two NATO members, which have long-standing and often volatile disputes.

Nikos Panagiotopoulos told reporters in Athens that he would visit areas devastated by earthquakes in early February with Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar.