About: Bulgaria
‘Clumsy’ resolution risks alienating EU from Kazakhstan, MEP says
The European Parliament's recent resolution on Kazakhstan is "clumsy" and detrimental both for the bilateral relations and the credibility of the EU, Bulgarian MEP Ivo Hristov (S&D) told EURACTIV on Wednesday (3 March).
Bulgaria accuses AstraZeneca of taking country’s vaccine ‘hope’ away
Bulgaria's health minister has accused AstraZeneca of failing to stick to its delivery schedule of COVID-19 vaccines to the country and demanded the immediate shipment of at least 52,800 doses that were postponed to 1 March.
Bulgaria to open restaurants from March, nightclubs from April
Bulgaria will reopen restaurants from March and lift a ban on nightclubs from April, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said on Wednesday (24 February), betting on a vaccination programme and a solid number of recoveries from COVID-19.
Cohesion Commissioner tells Bulgaria to make good use of EU’s unprecedented funding
The opportunities that the EU’s new long-term budget and the Recovery and Resilience Fund, totaling €1.8 trillion, offer a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the EU and Bulgaria, Elisa Ferreira, Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms told a mostly Bulgarian audience.
EU urges five countries to codify anti-racism law
The European Commission on Thursday (18 February) told five EU countries -- Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland, Poland and Sweden -- to quickly put a 2008 EU law against racism into their statutes.
‘Low hanging fruit’: Eastern EU states eye existing gas network for hydrogen
Existing gas networks should be repurposed to transport hydrogen and help boost demand, said Michał Kurtyka, Polish Minister of Climate and Environment at an online event about hydrogen in Central and Eastern Europe on Friday (12 February).
Lesbian mother of stateless baby takes citizenship fight to top EU court
A baby left without a nationality after she was born in Spain to a same-sex couple from Bulgaria and Gibraltar is at the centre of a test case to be heard by the European Union's top court on Tuesday (9 February).
MEPs threaten to sue over European Prosecutors’ appointments
The European Parliament is requesting all documentation concerning the nominations for the European Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) of the candidates from Belgium, Bulgaria and Portugal, where national ministers overruled the selection committee picks.
Bulgarian fraudsters use fake Stallone passport as ad
A Bulgarian criminal gang used a fake passport in the name of the Hollywood actor Sylvester Stallone to advertise its counterfeiting services to potential clients, prosecutors said Friday (29 January).
One of Bulgaria’s oldest doctors keeps up virus fight
Infectious disease specialist Dr Maria Bogoeva was ready to hang up her scrubs and retire from her post in a small provincial hospital in western Bulgaria when the coronavirus pandemic struck.
The mystery of Bulgaria’s ‘golden passports’ deepens
Bulgaria keeps delivering “golden passports” to wealthy non-EU foreigners in return for 'investment', but it turns out that in most cases, such investment does not materialise, so the country gains little and may even risk an infringement procedure from Brussels. EURACTIV Bulgaria reports.
New player shakes up Bulgarian media landscape
United Group, a leading multi-play telecoms and media provider in South-East Europe, has bought a large chunk of the Bulgarian media, as its latest acquisition was cleared by the country’s anti-cartel body on Monday (18 January).
Bulgaria wrongly strips mother of residence rights, detains her and baby
The latest video report by EURACTIV Bulgaria investigative journalist Valia Ahchieva reveals the brutality, incompetence and unaccountability of the country’s bureaucracy.
Bulgaria holds its horses with Pfizer, Moderna vaccines, puts hopes in AstraZeneca
For mass vaccination, Bulgaria's strategy appears to rely on a new vaccine by AstraZeneca, rather than on those by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, already approved in the EU, EURACTIV Bulgaria reported on Friday (8 January), based on leaked documents and unofficial information.
In Romania, Bulgaria, thousands defy Covid, crowding for Epiphany
Thousands of Romanian Orthodox Christians crowded into the harbour of the Black Sea port of Constanta on Wednesday (6 January), breaking social distancing rules to celebrate an Epiphany service. Similar gatherings took place in Burgas, Varna or Sofia, in Bulgaria.
Nickolay Mladenov unable to take up role as UN Libya envoy
Bulgarian diplomat Nickolay Mladenov has told UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres he will be unable to take up the role as United Nations Libya envoy next year due to “personal and family reasons,” a UN spokesman said on Tuesday (22 December).
Erdogan ‘openly interferes’ in Bulgarian politics, pundits say
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has started to interfere openly in Bulgarian domestic politics, pundits said after he made an unprecedented video address to Bulgaria's mostly ethnic Turkish Movement of Rights and Freedoms (DPS).
North Macedonia slams Bulgaria’s ‘blackmail’ in EU entry process
North Macedonia's foreign minister called on the EU Tuesday (15 December) to end the "blackmail" of his country through the imposition by Bulgaria of fresh obstacles to its membership of the bloc.
Greece becomes ‘most important hub for alternative gas’ in Southeast Europe
As the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) became operational last month, a Greek official stated that his country had become the most important hub for gas from sources other than Russia in Southeastern Europe, also thanks to its LNG terminals.
Air pollution: Covid-hit Bulgaria faces compound risk
As the winter smog season in Bulgaria arrives, experts are concerned over a "perfect storm" of health risks: the country's high air pollution and the coronavirus -- in a country with one of Europe's highest Covid-19 death rates.
Bulgaria’s gas dependence on the Kremlin slowly loosens
With the implementation of the IGB (Greece-Bulgaria) interconnector, Bulgaria could reduce its dependence on imported Russian gas by 50%, but the project, declared a priority more than ten years ago, continues to be delayed. EURACTIV Bulgaria reports.
Commission welcomes arrival of ‘Caspian gas’ to EU countries
The European Commission welcomed on Friday (4 December) the start of the operations of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), the last stretch of the Southern gas corridor, thanks to which gas pumped from the Shah Deniz offshore gas field in Azerbaijan started reaching Italy.
Russia’s Trojan Stream under the Black Sea
The EU’s tacit acceptance of the TurkStream is a serious and dangerous misjudgement of the perils this diversionary pipeline presents, writes Olga Bielkova.