Euro zone finance ministers early this morning withheld the release of a EUR 12 billion loan to Greece, saying they could not authorise the release of the money until the Greek parliament backed a swingeing new austerity plan.

Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vuk Jeremic said that it is not in Serbia’s interest to ever recognize the independence of its breakaway province of Kosovo. He said that should that happen then Serbia could well expect new declarations of independence in other quarters.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul will be in Bulgaria July 03 on an official two-day visit. This will be the first official visit of a Turkish head of state to the country. The visit will be used to discuss opportunities for boosting bilateral cooperation and the implementation of joint projects in …