Syrian government and opposition delegates are starting a fresh round of U.N.-brokered peace talks. The first face-to-face meetings mediated by U.N.-Arab League envoy Lakhdar

Serbian Defense Minister Nebojsa Rodić conferred in Belgrade with NATO Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Richard Shirreff. According to a statement from the Serbian MoD, they spoke about “regional cooperation and Serbia’s role in the creation of a secure environment in the Balkans.”

Bulgarian Foreign Minister Kristian Vigenin has expressed hopes that the issue of Bulgaria’s accession to Schengen will be resolved by end-2014. Vigenin, as cited by the BGNES news agency, told journalists Friday that no decision on Bulgaria’s Schengen