Europe Lithuania The armed forces have published this year's conscription lists, after partial military conscription was reintroduced in 2015; out of some 34000 young men on the lists, only 3828 of them will actually be called up for nine months' military service
Europe Croatia Croatian police officers will help their Slovenian colleagues in contact with Croatian citizens in the ski resorts of Kranjska Gora and Rogla in Slovenia in the project "Winter tourist season", a version of the police summer project "Safe tourist season"
Europe Bulgaria The Bulgarian Development Bank will provide direct financing of Lv 60 million, €30 million, to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises affected by the pandemic in the hotel and restaurant sector, which they can use to refinance overdue debts
Europe Ukraine The latest estimates suggest that public debt in 2021 has fallen to 51,7% of GDP, returning to the level within the safety limit of the Budget Code and approaching the IMF/WB recommended safe level for developing economies
Europe Spain Spanish police received €1 million from Europol to continue their fight against international crime until 2025
Europe Russia Christmas is celebrated today in the country, a different date than 25 December because the Orthodox Church, representing around 260 million Christians, still uses the ancient "Julian" calendar to mark religious festivities
Europe Bosnia and Herzegovina In the first three days of the New Year, a record 15.000 people visited Mostar, raising hopes for the definitive revival of tourism in the south of the country
Europe Malta Out-of-pocket spending as a share of total healthcare expenditure in 2018 was 34,3% - the fourth highest percentage in the EU and more than double the EU average, an OECD report reveals, warning of the risk of a "two-tier system"
Europe Iceland Fireworks in the country are sold and can be fired today; next time they will be on the market this year would be December 28–31
Europe Latvia The Latvian Botanist Society has chosen the globeflower (Trollius europaeus) as the flower of the year; according to popular belief, the flower has magical qualities, including the ability to ward off evil spirits
Europe Slovakia President Zuzana Caputova expressed just two wishes for the country for the year that has just begun: to build cohesion and cultivate humanity in order to overcome the health crisis as well as any future crisis
Europe Poland The nationalist government is reportedly trying to play down allegations that it improperly bought the Pegasus phone hacking software from an Israeli company to spy on its opponents
Europe Montenegro From January to October 2021, 144 fewer children were born than in 2020 and 1.815 more child deaths were recorded than in 2020, according to comparative data from the Statistics Office of Montenegro, MONSTAT