Bulgaria

Bulgaria’s GERB party expands lead ahead of Sunday’s election

SOFIA, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Bulgaria's centre-right GERB party widened its lead over its main rival, the reformist We Continue the Change (PP), as the country heads into its fourth…

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Bulgaria inches closer to buying more F-16s to replace Russian jets

Bulgaria inched closer to buying a second batch of eight new F-16 aircraft and related equipment from the United States in a deal valued at $1.30 billion, interim Defence Minister…

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Bulgaria’s GERB party leads ahead of Oct. 2 election

SOFIA, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Bulgaria's centre-right GERB party widened its lead over its main rival, the reformist We Continue the Change (PP) a month ahead of the country's fourth…

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Bulgaria says talks to resume Russian gas supplies are ‘inevitable’

Bulgaria's interim energy minister said it was "inevitable" that the Balkan country would discuss resuming gas deliveries with Russia's Gazprom GAZP.MM that were halted in April, after the government promised to secure…

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Bulgarian President calls snap election

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev set Oct. 2 as the date for the country's fourth parliamentary election in less than two years on Monday, after the collapse in June of reformist…

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Bulgaria faces fresh polls after Socialists drop bid to form government

SOFIA, July 27 (Reuters) - Bulgaria's Socialist party abandoned plans on Wednesday to propose a new coalition government after failing to scrape together a majority in parliament, a development that…

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Bulgaria election likely after centre-right party refuses to form government

SOFIA, July 14 (Reuters) - Bulgaria's centre-right GERB party refused on Thursday to form a new government, bringing the Balkan country closer to snap polls in the autumn. Bulgaria is…

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Photo Story: Lavender harvest in Bulgaria

A farmer harvests lavender flowers in a field near the town of Shabla, Bulgaria. Bulgaria, currently the largest producer of lavender oil in the world have overtaken France, which had…

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Russian envoy to Bulgaria to ask Moscow to shut embassy after mass expulsions

Russia's ambassador to Bulgaria said she would ask Moscow to close its embassy in the Balkan country after her appeal for Sofia to reverse what she called an unprecedented hostile…

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Bulgaria destroys naval mine off its Black Sea coast

SOFIA, July 1 (Reuters) - Bulgaria's military late on Thursday carried out a controlled explosion of a Soviet-era naval mine that had drifted close to the country's Black Sea coast, the defence…

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UPDATED: Bulgaria’s outgoing PM rejects Russian ultimatum, unveils potential successor

SOFIA, July 1 (Reuters) - Bulgaria's outgoing Prime Minister Kiril Petkov rejected a Russian ultimatum to reverse a decision to expel 70 Russian diplomatic staff by noon on Friday and named the country's finance…

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Bulgaria closer to early election

Bulgaria's Socialists, allies in the outgoing coalition government of Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, said they would not back a new Petkov-led Cabinet, angry with the expulsion of 70 Russian diplomats.…

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Bulgarian parliament greenlights N Macedonia’s EU membership negotiation

Bulgaria's parliament gave the government the green light on Friday to approve a European Union membership negotiation framework for North Macedonia, in a move that may allow its northern neighbour…

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Albania’s PM slams Bulgaria on Western Balkan EU membership

Bulgaria's block on North Macedonia's progress to join the European Union is a "disgrace", Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said as he arrived for a special Balkans summit with EU…

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Bulgarian foreign, energy ministers quit, deepening coalition crisis

SOFIA, June 13 (Reuters) - Bulgaria's foreign and energy ministers resigned on Monday after their party, the populist ITN, quit the governing coalition last week, compounding the Balkan country's political…

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Bulgaria faces risk of political instability as PM loses majority

Bulgaria's prime minister pledged to lead a minority government on Wednesday as the populist ITN party quit the government over disagreements on budget spending and whether Bulgaria should back North…

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Bulgaria approves $1.1 bln plan to curb energy prices, help households

SOFIA, May 18 (Reuters) - Bulgaria's ruling coalition agreed on Wednesday a stimulus package worth 2 billion levs ($1.08 billion) to shield companies and low-income consumers from the surge in energy and…

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Bulgarian government approves plan to offset high energy prices

SOFIA, May 16 (Reuters) - Bulgaria on Monday approved a new stimulus package to shield companies from the surge in energy prices bolstered by the war in Ukraine, Prime Minister Kiril Petkov…

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Bulgaria says will veto EU oil sanctions on Russia if it does not get derogation

Bulgaria will not support European Union's new set of sanctions against Russia if the Balkan country does not get a derogation from the proposed ban on buying Russian oil, Deputy Prime Minister…

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Russian parliament speaker says: cut off the gas to other ‘unfriendly’ countries

April 27 (Reuters) - Russia's top lawmaker on Wednesday said gas giant Gazprom had made the right decision in fully suspending gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland and said Moscow should do…

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Bulgaria bans Russian-flagged ships from entering its Black Sea ports

Bulgaria has banned Russian-flagged ships from entering its Black Sea ports as part of expanded EU sanctions, the country’s Maritime Administration announced on its website on Sunday. “All vessels registered…

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Bulgaria’s growth prospects dented by war in Ukraine -IMF

SOFIA, April 15 (Reuters) - The war in Ukraine is likely to hit Bulgaria's economic growth, speed up inflation and could pose credit risks, the International Monetary Fund said on Friday. The…

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Bulgaria eases travel rules for NATO troops, neighbouring states

SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria will allow NATO troops, as well as travellers from some neigbouring countries, to arrive in the Balkan country without showing any coronavirus-related documents as of April…

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Bulgaria scraps ‘golden passports’ scheme

SOFIA, March 24 (Reuters) - Bulgaria's parliament scrapped a 'golden passports' scheme on Thursday that allowed wealthy foreigners to buy citizenship in the European Union country if they invested as little as…

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U.S. to provide Stryker army company to NATO battlegroup in Bulgaria

SOFIA (Reuters) -The United States has agreed to provide a Stryker mechanized infantry company for Bulgaria’s battlegroup under NATO’s drive to bolster its eastern flank after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,…

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Bulgaria’s former PM Borissov detained after EU probes

SOFIA, March 17 (Reuters) - Bulgaria's former prime minister and leader of the largest opposition GERB party, Boyko Borissov, was detained late on Thursday as part of a police operation linked to…

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EU to keep talking with Bulgaria until enlargement spat solved, Borrell says

March 14 (Reuters) - The European Commission will continue talking to Bulgaria to get its approval for accepting North Macedonia into the bloc, the EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell…

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Bulgaria to host up to eight Dutch fighter jets and 200 troops

SOFIA, March 11 (Reuters) - NATO member Bulgaria will host up to eight Dutch warplanes and 200 troops to help it with its air policing tasks amid the Russian invasion…

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UPDATED: Estonia, Romania and Bulgaria close airspace for Russian carriers

BUCHAREST, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Romania will ban Russian airlines from its airspace, government spokesman Dan Carbunaru said on Saturday, joining other countries in central Europe against which Russia already retaliated. Carbunaru…

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Bulgaria posts new record of 12,399 daily COVID infections

SOFIA, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Bulgaria reported a record 12,399 coronavirus infections in a single day on Wednesday, official data showed, with most of the cases caused by the more…

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Bulgaria posts record of more than 11,000 daily COVID-19 cases

SOFIA, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Bulgaria reported a record 11,181 coronavirus infections in a single day on Wednesday, official data showed, dominated by the more contagious Omicron variant. The European…

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North Macedonia and Bulgaria agree to work on issues blocking EU talks

The new premiers of Bulgaria and North Macedonia agreed on Tuesday to try to overcome problems that prompted Sofia to block the start of accession talks between the European Union…

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Anti-vaccine protesters try to storm Bulgaria’s parliament

Anti-vaccine protesters tried to storm the Bulgarian parliament on Wednesday and briefly scuffled with police officers during a massive rally against coronavirus restrictions in downtown Sofia. Tensions rose an hour…

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Bulgaria’s daily coronavirus infections at record high

SOFIA, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Daily coronavirus infections in Bulgaria reached a record high of 7,062 on Wednesday, largely fuelled by the highly contagious Omicron variant, official data showed. New…

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Bulgaria sees its population decline by 11.5% in a decade

Bulgaria’s population has declined by 11.5% in the past decade, according to first results from the 2021 census. The National Statistical Institute said that the nation has shrunk by 844,000…

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Bulgaria detects first cases of Omicron coronavirus variant

Bulgaria has detected its first 12 cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, the Balkan country's chief health inspector Angel Kunchev said. "We have confirmed the new variant in…

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Bulgaria hikes natural gas price by 30.4%

SOFIA, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Bulgaria's energy regulator said on Saturday it has approved a 30.4% increase of the wholesale natural gas price for this month, following a request by…

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Bulgaria offers cash reward to boost vaccination rates among pensioners

SOFIA, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov said on Thursday that elderly people who get a COVID-19 shot will be eligible for a cash reward as part…

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Bulgaria’s PP party expects to forge coalition government soon

Bulgaria's largest political party, We Continue The Change (PP), expects to forge a coalition government with three other parties soon and put an end to a political deadlock, PP leader…

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Bulgaria’s PP party expects to forge coalition government soon

SOFIA, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Bulgaria's largest political party, We Continue The Change (PP), expects to forge a coalition government with three other parties soon and put an end to…

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Investigators say human error likely cause of deadly Bulgaria bus crash

FIA, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Bulgarian investigators said on Thursday that human error was the most likely cause of a bus crash that killed more than 40 people. The bus…

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UPDATED – Flaming bus crash in Bulgaria kills 45 North Macedonian tourists

SOFIA (Reuters) -At least 45 people, including 12 children, died as a bus carrying mostly North Macedonian tourists crashed in flames on a highway in western Bulgaria on Tuesday, officials…

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Bulgarian President Radev wins second term on anti-corruption ticket

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev won a second term in office by a wide margin on Sunday as voters in the European Union's poorest country backed his strong anti-corruption message, exit…

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Tired of rampant graft, Bulgarians vote in presidential election

SOFIA, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Bulgarians are voting on Sunday to choose the country's next president in a run-off election, weary of widespread corruption in the European Union's poorest member…

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Deaths 50% above normal in Bulgaria, EU’s least vaccinated country -Eurostat

More than 50% more people died in Bulgaria than usual during September, official data showed, making the European Union's least vaccinated country its hardest-hit during a resurgence of coronavirus cases over the…

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Update: Petkov scores high in Bulgarians vote in third election this year

Update Entrepreneur and political newcomer Kiril Petkov scored unexpectedly strongly in Bulgaria’s election on Sunday, according to exit polls that suggested he was running close to winning the vote and…

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Fire at hospital in Bulgaria kills three COVID-19 patients

SOFIA, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Three men died when a fire broke out in a COVID-19 ward of a hospital in the southern Bulgarian city of Sliven early on Sunday,…

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Morgues fill up in Romania and Bulgaria amid low Covid vaccine uptake

Romania and Bulgaria are recording the EU’s highest daily death rates from Covid-19, after superstition, misinformation and entrenched mistrust in governments and institutions combined to leave them the least vaccinated…

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Bulgaria’s GERB with strong lead for Nov. 14 election, opinion poll shows

SOFIA, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Bulgaria's centre-right GERB party kept a substantial lead over its rivals before Sunday's parliamentary election that will be the country's third this year, an opinion…

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Bulgaria’s daily COVID-19 deaths rise to record high

Bulgaria reported a record number of daily coronavirus deaths on Tuesday as the European Union's least vaccinated country grapples with a fourth wave of the pandemic, official data showed. New…

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Bulgaria reports African swine fever outbreak at industrial farm

SOFIA, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Bulgarian veterinary authorities on Monday reported a new outbreak of African swine fever at an industrial farm that has a total of 180 pigs in…

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Bulgaria hits record high daily coronavirus cases, hospitals stretched

Bulgaria's tally of coronavirus infections has risen by 6,813 in the past 24 hours, a record daily increase as the European Union's least vaccinated country grapples with a fourth wave…

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Bulgaria makes COVID ‘health pass’ obligatory for leisure activities

Bulgaria will make a COVID-19 "Green Certificate" mandatory for indoor access to restaurants, cinemas, gyms and shopping malls, the health minister said, as the country struggles with a rising number…

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Bulgarian police detain 3 foreigners after sensitive data goes missing at arms plant

Three senior foreign employees of Bulgaria's biggest weapons maker Arsenal have been arrested on suspicion of being involved in the disappearance of sensitive products and documents from the company's plant,…

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Bulgaria centre-right party endorses university rector for president

SOFIA, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Bulgaria's centre-right GERB party on Friday endorsed a university rector to run for president in a contest to be held in tandem with a parliamentary…

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New centrist faction to run in Bulgaria’s third election this year

Popular former interim economy and finance ministers have set up a centrist political faction to compete in Bulgaria's third parliamentary election this year on pledges to tackle widespread corruption and…

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UPDATED: Bulgaria reappoints caretaker PM ahead of third election of 2021

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev reappointed caretaker premier Stefan Yanev on Thursday to lead an interim government until the country holds its third set of parliamentary elections this year on Nov.…

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