About: Bulgarie Archives

EU justice ministers held talks in Luxembourg yesterday (8 October) on how to avoid tragedies like the one which saw more than 200 African migrants drown near the Italian island of Lampedusa last week and how to cope with the rising number of Syrian refugees.

The "administrative monster" of the EU is blocking one of the keys to sustainable development, culture, by diminishing its importance in development aid, renowned musician and composer Jean Michel Jarre told EURACTIV in an exclusive interview.

The 23 MPs from Bulgaria’s extremist Ataka party, who are in Brussels today (27 September) to demand an apology from an MEP who called them ‘xenophobic’, may really be trying to avoid a no-confidence motion against the Socialist-led minority government in Sofia, sources say.

Commission Vice-President Viviane Reding has strongly criticised the “electioneering” rhetoric of French Interior Minister Manuel Valls, who has called for Roma from Bulgaria and Romania to sent back where they came from. EURACTIV.fr reports.

As Washington weighs a military strike against Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, the human fallout of two and a half years of conflict that has sent millions into flight is no longer contained to the Middle East. Hundreds of refugees are trying to get into Europe from the Western Balkans.

The European Commission strongly denied today (28 August) media reports that EU funds, allocated to Bulgaria and Romania to help improve the situation of their Roma, would be re-directed to Germany, where many members of the minority have moved.

More than two decades after taking part in pro-democracy protests against Bulgaria's crumbling communist regime, business executive Sasha Bezuhanova feels her life has come full circle.

Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva expressed concern yesterday (23 July) about the political situation in Bulgaria, her home country, where anti-government protests turned violent on their 40th day.

The EU's 28 foreign ministers unanimously agreed today (22 July) to put the armed wing of Hezbollah on its list of terrorist organisations, but made it clear that it would maintain contact with all political parties in Lebanon, including the Hezbollah party, which is part of the country’s government.

The two largest political groups in the European Parliament, left and right, have called on Bulgaria's new Socialist-led government to distance itself from the nationalist extremist party Ataka.

Commission President José Manuel Barroso on Friday (21 June) urged Bulgaria’s the new prime minister and other politicians in the country to agree a minimum number of priorities to resolve the country’s political problems.

Lithuania, which takes over the EU's rotating Presidency on 1 July, is not optimistic regarding the much-protracted accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen borderless area, the country’s envoy to Brussels said yesterday (18 June). 

Sergei Stanishev, leader of the Party of European Socialists (PES), is under pressure to resign as leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party following a decision of the Socialist-led government to appoint a controversial media mogul as security chief.

Judges in Bulgaria are sanctioned not when they commit a violation, but when they disobey, writes Ivanka Ivanova.

Brussels is taking Britain to Europe's top court over its benefits rules, accusing it of denying thousands of EU citizens living in Britain the right to welfare - a claim London rejects.

Bulgaria's new Socialist-led government won a parliamentary vote of confidence yesterday (29 May), ending months of political impasse but lacking the broad backing that may be required to steer the economy and attract much needed investment.

Bulgarians voted on Sunday (12 May) to send four parties to the 240-seat parliament, but with preliminary results showing a horse race between the two leading political blocs, analysts doubted that the party of former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov stood little chance of forming a government.

Bulgarians head to the polls on Sunday (12 May) to elect a new Parliament nearly three months after public outrage forced the government to resign. The snap election comes amid the fallout of a wiretapping scandal that exposed abuse of power.

The European Commission has responded coldly to calls from four EU ministers to curb so-called ‘benefits tourism’ by introducing rules prohibiting EU nationals expelled for benefits fraud from returning.

Hannes Swoboda, president of the Socialists and Democrats group in the European Parliament, called yesterday (16 April) on the European Commission to investigate a wiretapping scandal in Bulgaria.

Two German conservative MEPs on Wednesday (10 April) accused Romania’s Socialist government of hindering Bulgaria and Romania’s entry into the Schengen area, contradicting Berlin’s statements that the two nations were weak on justice and corruption.

Marking International Roma Day, the European Commission on Monday (8 April) urged member countries to ensure that NGOs representing Roma are involved in the planning and use of EU funds for integration into society.

A Foreign Office-commissioned report has directly challenged claims by UK Prime Minister David Cameron that Britain faces a massive wave of immigration from Bulgaria and Romania when labour restrictions applying to these countries are lifted next January.

 
Gazprom Neft holds a 56% stake in NIS, the largest energy company in Serbia, but the company vows to do business “outside politics” and support the country’s EU integration, Kirill Kravchenko, CEO of NIS, told EURACTIV in an exclusive interview.