Bulgaria reports virulent bird flu at over 50 farms, culling 430,000 poultry

Sofia, 14 January 2017 (MIA) - A virulent bird flu virus has spread to 55 poultry farms in Bulgaria prompting the veterinary authorities to announce a cull of some 430,000 birds since it was first detected in the middle of December, agriculture minister Dessislava Taneva said on Saturday.
The Balkan country has also registered four cases of bird flu in wild ducks since mid-December, Reuter reports.
Bulgaria has imposed a nationwide ban on poultry markets and on the hunting of game birds, and has already spent over a million levs ($543,714) to cull birds in a bid to contain the outbreak.
"In Bulgaria, we have usually registered bird flu in wild birds in the past few years. It is the first time we have had so many outbreaks in farms," Taneva told Bulgarian Darik radio.
The southern region of Plovdiv was most affected by the highly pathogenic virus H5N8, she said, pointing out that some 300,000 birds, mainly ducks, were culled and another 130,000 were to be killed on Saturday.
The authorities have imposed quarantine zones around the affected farms.
Taneva said over 800 bird flu outbreaks have been detected in Europe since October, with Germany and France being most affected. lk/16:24
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Médecins Sans Frontières: Influx of refugees leaves Belgrade at risk of becoming 'new Calais'
London, 15 January 2017 (MIA) - A freezing and squalid Belgrade railway depot where up to 2,000 people are seeking shelter from the bitter Serbian winter risks becoming a “new Calais” for refugees and migrants abandoned by European authorities, the humanitarian group Médecins Sans Frontières has warned.
Children as young as eight are struggling to survive temperatures that have plunged to -16C this week, with no running water or sanitation.
At a Belgrade clinic set up by the charity, doctors have seen frostbite and burns resulting from the inhalation of toxic smoke, as people burn anything they can find to stay warm, among dozens of other medical problems.
MSF estimates that up to 2,000 people are living in a cluster of warehouses and other buildings around the city’s main station. It estimates that nearly half the patients they have treated are under 18, the Guardian reports.
“Serbia risks becoming a dumping zone, a new Calais where people are stranded and stuck,” warned Andrea Contenta, humanitarian affairs officer for MSF in Serbia.
The country is not part of the European Union, but it borders several countries that are part of the bloc, including Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania, and has become a key transit point for those hoping to start a new life in western Europe.
Serbia won praise for its treatment of migrants, but increasing numbers have become stranded there as the EU tried to shut down the Balkan route and tightened border controls. Processing camps are now badly overcrowded and more people are arriving every day. Although they ultimately hope to move on from Serbia, many are spending months there, making repeated failed attempts to cross into the EU.
“We cannot continue avoiding talking about reality, which is that the Balkan route is still open but people are getting stuck because there is no safe way to travel,” Contenta said. He added that unofficial estimates were that up to 8,000 refugees and migrants were stranded in Serbia.
The refugees gave several reasons for not going to the official camps, saying they were closed or only took families, but most of all that they feared deportation to Bulgaria or Macedonia. lk/13:03
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Turkey wants concrete date for EU visa liberalization
Ankara, 15 January 2017 (MIA) - Turkey's foreign minister says a final proposal has been prepared regarding visa-free travel in Europe for Turkish citizens, an issue that has led to major tensions between Ankara and Brussels, AP reports.
Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Saturday that Turkey would be submitting the proposal in the coming days. He says "we're going to demand from the European Union that this matter be bound to a concrete calendar."
Turkey and the EU reached a deal in March to curb migration to Europe in return for incentives that included visa liberalization for Turks. However the issue hit a hurdle over Turkey's reluctance to change its counterterrorism laws.
Cavusoglu reiterated "we will not do anything to the laws on terrorism," but added there were no problems regarding other EU demands.