The Philippines looks ready to restart work on upgrading a military airport on Zhongye Island, a territory in the South China Sea claimed by China. China claims the Philippines has illegally occupied Chinese territory in the South China Sea since the 1970s. Source: People’ Daily
Russia’s Rosneft earlier this week announced that it had started drilling a production well off the coast of Vietnam in the South China Sea. Today, two sources close to the Vietnamese unit of the Russian company told Reuters there were concerns there about China’s possible reaction to the drilling. Source: Reuters
Hundreds of truck drivers blocked roads across Bulgaria on Thursday (17 May) as European Union leaders met in Sofia, protesting against proposed EU rules they say would cost them their jobs and put their firms out of business. Source: Euractiv
At the 23 March EU summit, Rajoy told his Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Borissov that he would not attend the EU-Western Balkans summit organised by the EU Bulgarian Presidency in Sofia because he did not want to sit on the same table with Kosovo. Source: Euractiv
