Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister Krassimir Karakachanov’s VMRO party said that it would register on April 9 for European Parliament elections, becoming the second of the “United Patriots” nationalist grouping to do so separately from its partners. Parties and coalitions intending to participate in Bulgaria’s May 26 2019 European Parliament elections have until April 10 to […]
A bishop from the “Macedonian Orthodox Church” will accompany a Bulgarian Orthodox Church delegation to Jerusalem at Easter 2019 to fetch the “Holy Fire”. This emerged at a meeting between Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borissov and Bulgarian Orthodox Church Stara Zagora Metropolitan Kiprian, who heads the church’s commission on relations with the church in North […]
Bulgaria’s National Assembly agreed on March 27 to extend by three months the deadline for an ad hoc committee investigating allegations in European and Bulgarian media about corruption in granting citizenship to foreigners. The committee was set up by a December 14 decision following the arrest in October of State Agency for Bulgarians Abroad head […]
Mystery continues to surround allegations of a link between the March 2018 poisoning attack on former Russian intelligence officer Sergey Skripal and the April 2015 poisoning of Bulgarian weapons industry businessman Emil Gebrev. The link, according to claims by the website Bellingcat, takes the form of Sergey Fedotov, an officer of Russian military intelligence GRU, […]
Across the spectrum, Bulgaria’s political parties are manoeuvring ahead of the country’s May 26 2019 European Parliament elections, with both major and minor ones seeking alliances as well as honing their messages ahead of what is expected to be a hotly-contested poll. The race is expected to be tightest between the two largest parties, Prime […]
Bulgaria’s Cabinet has approved an agreement with the Republic of North Macedonia on cooperation on disaster response, the government information service in Sofia stated on March 13. The agreement was signed in Strumica on November 23, 2017. The document defines the general framework for cooperation in the field of prevention, preparedness and response to disasters, […]
The Bulgarian – North Macedonian joint intergovernmental commission on trade, economic co-operation will hold its first meeting in Skopje on March 6 and 7 2019, ten years after it was set up. This emerged after talks in Sofia on February 25 between North Macedonia’s Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov and his host and counterpart Ekaterina Zakharieva. […]
Following its fourth meeting, the Bulgarian-North Macedonian commission on issues in history and education has proposed that the two countries jointly honour the historical figures Tsar Samuil, St Clement of Ohrid and St Naum of Ohrid. This was said in a Bulgarian Foreign Ministry statement after minister Ekaterina Zaharieva held a meeting with the commission, […]
Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov has welcomed the February 20 ratification by the country’s National Assembly of the NATO accession protocol of the Republic of North Macedonia. The ratification was supported by all parties present in the National Assembly. The opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party was absent because it is boycotting sittings of the legislature. Speaking […]
The Bulgarian Parliament with 140 unanimous votes ratified North Macedonia’s Accession Protocol to NATO at plenary session on Wednesday. North Macedonia’s Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi, who pays official visit to Bulgaria, attended the session. Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zakharieva addressed the session saying that the North Macedonia’s joining to NATO is historic moment for the […]
Nieghbouring Bulgaria will be the fourth NATO member state to ratify North Macedonia’s NATO Accession Protocol. The Bulgarian Parliament will hold a plenary session on Wednesday. North Macedonia’s Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi is expected to attend the session. The Bulgarian Parliament’s Defense Committee endorsed the accession protocol last week. Committee chair Konstantin Popov said North Macedonia […]
The Bulgarian government has endorsed the NATO Accession Protocol of the Republic of North Macedonia. The government has forwarded the document to the parliament for the purpose of its ratification. Greece and Slovenia have already ratified the protocol, while Albania is expected to follow suit on Thursday.
Bulgaria is systematically working together with other European Union countries to implement the activities outlined in the Sofia Declaration adopted in May 2018 at the EU-Western Balkans summit, Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zakharieva has told the National Assembly. The Sofia Declaration and the annex to it, known as the Sofia priority agenda, were signed on May […]
Macedonia’s Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov has expressed thanks to Bulgaria not only for the fact that it was in 1991 the first to recognise his country, but also for the fact that in 2019 it was the first to give a mandate to sign the former Yugoslav Republic’s Nato accession protocol. Dimitrov and Bulgarian Foreign […]
The Government of Bulgaria at its regular session on Wednesday approved the signing of Macedonia’s NATO accession protocol. By this decision, the Government in Sofia authorized the representative of the Permanent Delegation of Bulgaria to NATO to sign the accession protocol. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced earlier this week that signing of Macedonia’s NATO […]
Bulgaria’s Health Minister Kiril Ananiev and his counterpart from Macedonia, Venko Filipce, signed a co-operation plan on January 22, setting out areas where the two ministries will work together over three years, the Health Ministry in Sofia said. The cooperation plan arises from a Cabinet decision in December 2018, which also sets out the objectives, […]
Bulgaria’s national interest regarding Macedonia is to have a stable and secure neighbor. It will be such when it will join NATO and the European Union, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zakharieva said. She said ‘the country will not compromise the conditions that have to be respected to become part of the entire EU negotiation process.’ […]
Sofia has not asked for collaboration with Macedonian authorities on its Bulgarian passports probe, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev told Bulgarian reporters during his visit to Lisbon, Portugal. “We know full well that many Macedonians have Bulgarian passports and that we have Bulgarians in Macedonia,” PM Zaev said. “We have no problem with this, but if there’s […]
The Foreign Ministry in Macedonia has responded to Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and VMRO party leader Krassimir Karakachanov’s threat to block the country’s path to the EU and NATO if its Prime Minister Zoran Zaev continues to claim the Prespa Agreement recognizes a “Macedonian language”. Words such as those by Karakachanov could create negative attitudes and hostility […]
Protesters seeking the resignation of the Bulgarian government blocked the Hemus Motorway near Novi Pazar and a road over the Shoumen – Varna highway on November 25, the first such obstruction after days of flopped “national protests”. Ostensibly over “high fuel prices” and in favour of a better standard of living, the protests had their […]
