Georgi Gotev
The Brief – Is Eastern Europe more resilient to COVID-19?
Have you ever wondered why the numbers of people contaminated with COVID-19 are substantially bigger in the western part of our continent than in the former communist countries? The subscribers to our The Capitals and the Coronavirus tracker haven’t failed...
Bulgaria proposes to take over EU truck cargo, drive it to Turkey
Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov will propose to EU leaders during their teleconference on Thursday (26 March) that his country would transship goods of trucks from EU countries going to Turkey. The alternative is that EU drivers would wait 14 days before being allowed to enter Turkey.
Spanish doctors, nurses demand action after coronavirus cases soar
Nurses and doctors demanded action after Spain reported its sharpest daily increase in coronavirus cases on Tuesday (24 March) and said about 14% of the nearly 40,000 infections were among health workers.
EU supports Iran, Venezuela bids for IMF support in fight against coronavirus
The EU backs Iran and Venezuela in their requests for emergency funding from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help them fight the coronavirus outbreak, EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said on Monday (23 March).
Borissov orders his ministers to obtain Russian coronavirus medicines
Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said on Sunday (22 March) he was impressed by the statements of a Russian official who claimed that his country knows how to control the coronavirus, and that he had ordered his ministers to obtain the Russian medicines.
EU offers support to German vaccine company coveted by Trump
The European Commission said on Monday (16 March) it offered up to €80 million of financial support to German company CureVac to scale up development and production of a coronavirus vaccine in Europe.
The Brief, powered by ESA – Coronavirus: The optimist’s take
There is a joke. The pessimist says “The situation couldn’t be worse”. And the optimist replies: “Oh yes, it can!”... Let’s just imagine that the coronavirus pandemic is over and that the world has learned the lessons.
Record abstention at French local election, second round hangs in doubt
With a record abstention estimated between 53.5% and 56%, the French deserted the polling stations Sunday (15 March) during the first round of municipal elections, held during a coronavirus pandemic.
Papal Easter events to be held without faithful attending, Vatican says
All of Pope Francis’ Easter services next month will be held without the faithful attending due to the coronavirus outbreak, Vatican said on Sunday, in a step believed to be unprecedented in modern times. The services, four days of major...
Kazakhstan calls off WTO ministerial conference over coronavirus
Kazakhstan is suspending all public events and taking special preventive measures due to the global spread of the coronavirus, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev wrote on Twitter on Thursday (12 March).
EU pledges €700 million to Greece, Bulgaria’s Borissov obtains ‘compliments’
European Union officials on Tuesday (3 March) promised more cash for Greece during a visit to its border with Turkey which tens of thousands of migrants and refugees have been trying for days to breach. The officials urged Turkey to...
Fact check: Is this a refugee crisis?
For many, the dramatic events at the Greek-Turkish border resemble the 2015 refugee crisis, when more than a million refugees, mostly from Syria, crossed into Europe across the Mediterranean or overland. But is this really so? EURACTIV takes a closer...
Borissov meets Erdogan, gets assurance Bulgaria’s border will stay calm
Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov failed on Monday (2 March) in his mediation mission in Ankara which aimed to bring Greece, Turkey and EU leaders to a summit in Sofia to prevent a new refugee crisis in Europe
Migrants clash with Greek police, diplomatic efforts underway
Greek police fired tear gas to repel hundreds of stone-throwing migrants who tried to force their way across the border from Turkey on Sunday (1 March), with thousands more behind them after Ankara relaxed curbs on their movement.
Erdogan drops the ‘human bomb’ on EU
The situation at the Greek-Turkish land border worsened dramatically on Saturday (29 February) following Ankara's official decision to let thousands of migrants enter EU territory.
Bulgaria sends gendarmerie to border, as fears rise of migrant wave from Turkey
Bulgaria has sent gendarmerie forces to its border with Turkey because the threat of a migrant wave is real, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said on Friday (28 February).
Fake NATURA 2000 report raises eyebrows in Bulgaria, and Brussels
The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAN) has stated that the report the government has sent to Brussels in relation to the EU's Natura 2000 nature protection project is an “outright fake”, thus fully confirming the findings on an earlier investigative report by EURACTIV Bulgaria.
The Brief – The real threat from COVID-19
The coronavirus epidemic COVID-19 is an insult to liberal-minded people who advocate an open world and economy without borders. In a very short time, it has brought out the worse instincts in people: fear of the alien and of another...
Poroshenko fights selective justice ‘at the orders of Zelenskiy’
Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is fighting a court decision to have him brought in by force for questioning by the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI). Poroshenko's lawyers and his party said this latest development illustrates what the West calls “selective justice” in Ukraine.
At EU summit, Bulgaria’s Borissov fends off accusations of money laundering
The Spanish newspaper elPeriodico published on Friday (21 February) an investigative report stating that Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov is being investigated by the Catalan police for alleged involvement in money laundering and organised crime. Borissov has denied any wrongdoing.
At EU summit, Merkel and Macron call Putin over Syria crisis
The leaders of Germany and France called Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday (20 February) to express their concern about the humanitarian situation in Syria’s Idlib region, expressing their readiness to meet in an effort to defuse the conflict.
Georgia reports massive cyber-attack ‘carried out by Russia’
Georgia’s foreign ministry announced on Thursday (20 February) that a massive cyber-attack had taken place against its state institutions and media, and that investigations have shown that Russia was responsible for it. “On 28 October 2019, a large scale cyber-attack...
Nine EU countries voice opposition to EU ‘Mobility Package’
The number of countries opposing the EU mobility package grew from six to nine on Tuesday (18 February) when the transport ministers of Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Cyprus, Malta and Estonia made their positions clear in Brussels.