Turkey’s President Recep Erdogan ready to negotiate with the Taliban

In an interview for CNN Türk, Turkey’s President Recep Erdogan said that he could meet with the leader of the Taliban as part of the efforts to end the fights in Afghanistan. “The situation that the Afghan people are in is very difficult, they are experiencing troubling times with the Taliban”, said President Erdogan. In a phone conversation with his Afghan counterpart Ashraf Ghani, Recep Erdogan reaffirmed Turley’s readiness to continue supporting the peace process in Afghanistan.

Number of migrants illegally entering the European Union through the Western Balkans doubles

The number of migrants illegally entering the European Union through the Western Balkans has almost doubled this year, the EU border agency Frontex announced, quoted by the Bulgarian National Television. The majority of migrants are coming from Syria and Afghanistan. According to Frontex, 22,600 migrants entered the European Union via the Western Balkans from January until July. In July, their number was 67% up as compared to the same month last year. The European Union is not ready to deal with a repeat of the migration crisis in 2015 and must try to keep people from fleeing the growing conflict in Afghanistan, noted Greece’s Minister of Migration and Asylum Notis Mitarachi and added that the European Union should offer more support to help Turkey mitigate the pressure of more migrant arrivals. In Minister Mitarachi’s words, deportations of failed-asylum seekers should continue despite the fighting, because ending such returns would encourage more people to move to Europe.

Greece comes across the biggest ecological disaster in decades: Premier Kyriakos Mitsotakis

Hundreds of firefighters continue to fight the devastating fires in Greece. The country came across the biggest ecological disaster of the last few decades, Greece’s Premier Kyriakos Mitsotakis said. The rain brought some relief after two weeks of devastating fires. “Now we can be more optimistic to deal with the crisis”, said Premier Mitsotakis. The heat wave in Greece caused fires that devastated more than 100,000 hectares of forestland and farmland, which is the highest rate of damage in the country since 2007, announced the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), quoted by BGNES. The natural calamity claimed the lives of several people. Hundreds were left homeless and thousands were evacuated.

Turkey hit by wildfires and floods

At least eight people died in Turkey’s blazes caused by high temperatures. Firefighting is focused mainly in Muğla and Burdur provinces. Meanwhile, floods that occurred due to torrential rain flooded Turkey’s northern Black Sea coast, injuring people, destroying houses, bridges and roads. The heavy floods claimed some lives as well, reported Euronews. A large hospital had to be evacuated. Rescue teams transported the patients by rubber boats, show the videos published by the local authorities on Twitter. Residents of flood-affected areas climbed the roofs of their houses and were evacuated by helicopters.

Cyprus invests in transition toward circular economy

Cyprus will invest EUR 90 million in programmes and projects aimed to facilitate this country’s transition toward circular economy. Our goal is to move faster to a more efficient “green” circular model, explained the Minister of Energy, Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Cyprus Natasa Pilides during the presentation of the National Action Plan. Minister Pilides noted that this approach would make the business more competitive and viable. One of the targets regards the use of renewable resources and the utilization of raw materials to minimize production losses. The plan provides incentives and subsidies for businesses to implement the circular model.

Serbian telecommunications operator establishes subsidiary in North Macedonia

The Serbian state owned telecommunications operator Telekom Srbija will establish a subsidiary in North Macedonia called Mtel, announced this company’s General Director Vladimir Lucic, quoted by BGNES. Mtel will start offering satellite TV services within a month. Mobile telephony and optical Internet services will be introduced by the end of 2021. The telecommunications operator already has subsidiaries in Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Serbia owns 58.11% of Telekom Srbija.

Compiled by: Ivo Ivanov

English version: Kostadin Atanasov