Turkey expands training of fighters against "Islamic state" in Iraq

Turkey, which in November started a program for military training of 1500 Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq as part of the efforts to combat jihadist group "Islamic State," will expand the program, Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz reported. Training will include Iraqi military and Sunni forces in the region of Mosul. Ankara prefers the location for military training to be Iraq, but would comply if the authorities there wanted the training to be carried out on Turkish territory, the minister added.

Controversies in Macedonia hinder EU and NATO membership application

Macedonia, which is a candidate for EU and NATO membership has been in a state of chaos for months with the positions of the government and the opposition being hopelessly remote, according to an analysis of the German news agency DPA. Government and opposition blame each other, while the number of tapped phone calls is huge. The calls of some 20,000 citizens, including many journalists, were tapped, while high-level officials were handing out positions in the justice system according to their own desire. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned that the current political situation was a challenge to the integration of Macedonia and called for an independent and detailed investigation of the tapping scandal.

Romanian tour operators complain about lack of holiday vouchers

Tourism in Romania has lost nearly 50 million, because the law for holiday vouchers is not applied. A law approved last year allows private companies and institutions to provide their employees with holiday vouchers worth up to six gross minimum wages, which can be used for purchasing services from licensed tour operators. With the adoption of the law the Romanian state aims to stimulate the tourism market, but the lack of vouchers is an obstacle to the goal.

Greece refuses privatization in sectors of energy and infrastructure

The sale of state-owned enterprises in order to raise funds and reduce public debt is one of the measures required from Greece in return for the rescue loans from the Eurozone and the IMF. However, the new Greek government is "radically opposed" to the privatization of certain companies, particularly in the sectors of energy and infrastructure. This is what Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis said. Negotiations with creditors concerning necessary reforms that Athens must carry out in order to receive the remaining funds from the rescue loans and avoid bankruptcy, continue.

 Depositors in Cypriot banks blame the ECB for bankruptcy

In an open letter the association of former shareholders of the Bank of Cyprus blames the European Central Bank of being responsible for the collapse of the economy and the banking system of Cyprus. Former shareholders believe that the bank measures have proved catastrophic for the economy of the island and led to the loss of billions of euros. They point out that because of wrong decisions 88,000 have lost their life savings.

 Slovenians celebrate Day of sovereignty

Slovenia's parliament has decided to declare October 25 the Day of Sovereignty, reported local newspaper "Delo". October 25 was the day when the last soldier of the Yugoslav People's Army left Slovenia in 1991. The country now celebrates 12 public holidays in memory of various historical events, as most of them are related to Slovenia’s independence from former Yugoslavia, the newspaper reads.

English: Alexander Markov