About: Bulgaria Archives

EU regulators will settle their antitrust case with Gazprom by next week, people close to the matter said on Monday (14 May), after the Russian energy giant pledged to change its pricing structure and allow rivals a foothold in eastern Europe.

What is 9 May? For most in the EU, it’s Europe Day, in commemoration of the 1950 Schuman Declaration, the cornerstone of what is today the European Union. But in Eastern Europe, Russia has in recent years promoted a different kind of celebration, more in the vein of Cold War era parades.

A major innovation in the next long-term EU budget proposed by the European Commission yesterday (2 May) is the conditionality between EU funding and the rule of law. But the country holding the EU Presidency voiced its own clear rejection.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said he apologises for revealing a secret, but that the Bulgarians should know about the main additional condition for the country’s accession to the eurozone.  

Bulgaria, which currently holds the rotating EU Presidency, ranks last among all EU countries in terms of media freedom. It is also the worst in the Western Balkans, a region Sofia hopes to bring closer to the EU.

As Roma week 2018 comes to a close, Violeta Naydenova calls on the member governments and the Commission to use their influence to persuade the Bulgarian Presidency to increase their efforts against anti-Roma hatred in Bulgaria.

The European Commission announced on Wednesday (11 April) it would prohibit dual quality food across the bloc, following complaints and pressure from Central and Eastern European (CEE) member states.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday (9 April) his country is determined to continue the fight against what he calls the terrorist movement of Fethullah Gülen and bring home all “traitors” from abroad. 

Pirin national park has become an example of the Bulgarian government's unwillingness to establish the rule of law. When all eyes in Europe are on Bulgaria because of its Presidency of the EU Council, we need to see a strong message from the EU, writes Veselina Kavrakova.

Although the EU member states recently reached an agreement to tighten posted worker controls, another door has been opened to social dumping, warn Vania Grigorova and Anastaska Todorova, representing two trade unions in Bulgaria.

Bulgaria’s foreign ministry told Turkey on Tuesday (13 March) that internationally agreed borders cannot be changed, reacting to a statement by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who said on Sunday the Bulgarian city of Kardzhali finds itself “in the spiritual boundaries of Turkey”.

An Istanbul court yesterday (8 March) sentenced 25 journalists to prison terms of up to seven and a half years over links to the group blamed by Turkey for the 2016 failed coup, in a mass trial of media staff detained after the putsch bid.

Unusually low fuel prices in Bulgaria are probably the result of cartels, or contraband, Bozhidar Danev told EURACTIV.com in an exclusive interview, saying the authorities have  so far been unable or unwilling to address the issue.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed big energy projects with Russian participation in Bulgaria during a telephone conversation yesterday (5 March).

The European Commission has proposed to extend EU internal energy market rules to cover offshore gas pipelines. But the legal services of the Council – representing EU member states – has opposed the EU executive's legislative proposal.

Bulgarian Prime Mininster Boyko Borissov said yesterday (27 February) he would not resign over an unfolding scandal involving the sale of CEZ Bulgaria to an obscure company, saying the sale was a plot to topple him while he was in Brussels for an EU summit last week.

The Turkish government wants the Czech authorities to extradite a Syrian Kurdish leader detained this weekend at Ankara's request to face terror charges in Turkey, it said on Sunday (25 February).

Cartoonist Hristo Komarnitski and his colleagues had no illusions: launching a satirical journal was always going to be tricky in Bulgaria, new holder of the EU presidency but also ranked as the bloc's worst press freedom violator.

A wave of opposition in Central Europe to so-called “gender ideology” has led Bulgaria on 15 February, and then Slovakia yesterday (22 February) to oppose ratifying the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence.

The Greek coastguard has rescued 17 Turkish citizens, including children, who reached the island of Oinousses on Monday (19 February) and asked for asylum, citing fear of persecution back home.

Since her flight touched down in Sofia on 8 February, Ska Keller, co-President of the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament, became the target of Bulgarian nationalists.

While Bulgaria hosted a forum on Eco-innovation for air quality this week, its citizens are denied the right to clean air. Bulgaria has some of the dirtiest in Europe, yet its citizens are not allowed to go to court and claim their right to clean air, warns Ugo Taddei.

The European Commission made it clear on Monday (5 February) that it will not try to influence the UN-led talks to find a solution to the eternal name dispute between Greece and Macedonia, even though Jean-Claude Juncker is due to visit Skopje by the end of the month.

Bulgaria’s chief prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov ordered the tax authorities to inspect all Bulgarian citizens who have bought properties and cars for over €260,000 in the last two years.