Emmelie De Forest – Only Teardrops (Denmark)

Emmelie De Forest will represent Denmark at the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo, Sweden with the song Only Teardrops

Belgium’s Colsaerts Step Closer to Defending Title in Bulgaria

A day after Bulgaria made its debut on the European Tour, Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts made a step closer to successfully defending his title on the Thracian Cliffs course along the Black Sea shoreline. On day two of the Volvo World Match-Play Championship in Bulgaria on Friday, the 30-year-old easily defeated Thailand’s Kiradeck Aphibarnrat, winning 3 and 2. The victory came a day after suffering defeat by South African Branden Grace. “It (the course) played a little better today but there are still a few loose shots in my game [...]

Bulgaria to Go Sleepless on Sat to Celebrate Night of Museums

There will be many sleepless people in bigger cities across Bulgaria on Saturday night into Sunday as the country will join the Europe-wide Night of Museums for the ninth time. Over 30 museums and galleries across the country will be opening their doors free of charge and extending their working hours. Events are scheduled Saturday throughout the day and onto the dark hours, at least until midnight, organizers say. Bulgaria‘s National Art Gallery, Gallery Sofia, National Gallery for Foreign Art, National Archeological Museum, National Polytechnic Museum and [...]

Bulgarian President Accepts Chief of Staff’s Resignation

Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev has officially accepted the resignation handed by his Chief of Staff, Tsvetlin Yovchev. Yovchev filed his resignation in early April. However, the official has been on a leave of absence over the last couple of weeks, Yovchev resigned citing “personal projects” that were not compatible with his position in Plevneliev’s administration. He clarified that his projects were not political, but refused to elaborate on them. Yovchev, who is a former head of Bulgaria’s National State Security Agency, became the first member [...]

Bulgaria Submitted 14% of RAPEX Unsafe Product Alerts in 2012

Bulgaria and Hungary filed around one quarter of all signals for unsafe goods in the EU in 2012, according to statistics of RAPEX, the EU rapid alert system for all dangerous consumer products. In 2012, Bulgaria submitted a total of 271 RAPEX notifications, outpaced only by Hungary with 294 signals. All 27 EU Member States, together with Norway, Island, and Liechtenstein, which participate in the system, submitted a total of 2278 RAPEX notifications in 2012, up by 26% from 2011. In 2012, a total of [...]

Overturned Truck Impedes Traffic to Bulgarian-Greek Border

A tractor trailer with Greek license plates has overturned on the Struma Highway in Bulgaria, near the repair works at the “Dolna Dikanya” junction. The incident happened around 4 am Saturday morning, the police in the Bulgarian western city of Pernik reported. The truck has sustained serious damage, but the Greek driver escaped only with light injuries. His life is out of danger. The most likely cause is the driver falling asleep at the wheel. Due to the crash, traffic on the highway in the direction of the Kulata checkpoint on the Bulgarian-Greek border is reported as [...]

Elitsa Todorova & Stoyan Yankulov – Samo Shampioni (Bulgaria)

Elitsa Todorova & Stoyan Yankulov are multi-talented musicians, bringing together the best in terms of vocals, styles, and instruments. They are famous especially for their innovative ways of combining traditional singing, percussions and modern influences. Elitsa Todorova was born on 1977 in Varna. She studied music, specialising in authentic folklore singing and in percussions. She attracts the attention of both the audience and the critics with her specific voice – strong, deep-toned, clear and hardy, the tone-quality being one of [...]

Destination Bulgaria

Disgruntled Bulgarian Truckers Blockade Turkish Border Again

Bulgarian tractor trailers will blockade the Kapitan Andreevo-Kapakule border crossing point between Bulgaria and Turkey on the Bulgarian side for the second time in just days. Drivers and truck owners are protesting the hurdles for their business on the other side of the border and unfair competition. They complain from unfoundedrestrictions such as not allowing into Turkish territory trucks carrying over 500 liters of fuel or making drivers wait at the Turkish border for days. During the previous blockade on May 9 only cars were being let through the checkpoint now. The Interior Ministry informed the [...]

National Regulators Confirm Extension of Nabucco Third-Party Exemption

The national regulatory bodies of Austria, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria have adopted a draft decision confirming the extension of the existing 50% exemption from EU legislation on third party access granted to Nabucco. According to a media statement of Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH, the extension of the validity of the exemption is in line with the production schedule of the Shah Deniz gas field. Through the draft decision, the four national watchdogs also confirmed their support for the Nabucco legal and regulatory framework, consisting of [...]

Bulgaria Reopens Privatization of Weapons Behemoth

Bulgaria’s Privatization Agency has announced Tuesday it is launching a new procedure for the privatization of the country’s largest arms factory, VMZ Sopot. Interested companies will be able to purchase documentation starting 20 days and ending 40 days after the promulgation of the tender in Bulgaria’s State Gazette. The documentation does not include an information memorandum for VMZ Sopot, which will be available to firms that have purchased the documentation and cover the stipulated requirements. Companies interested in purchasing the weapons factory’s 118 M shares, constituting 100% [...]

Bulgaria Caretaker PM Vows Assistance for Kosovo’s EU Integration

Speaking after a meeting with Kosovo‘s Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, Bulgarian caretaker Prime Minister Marin Raykov emphasized the importance of Kosovo for the EU integration of the region. Thaci arrived Wednesday in Sofia on a one-day working visit. “The agreement on the normalization of relations between Pristina and Belgrade signed in April gives us hope for the future of both countries in the EU,” Raykov stated, according to reports of the government’s press office, as cited by dnevnik.bg. He went on to express Bulgaria’s firm support for the launch [...]

EC Expects Bulgarian Parties to Try to Form Govt

The European Commission has vowed to come up with statements on the results of the May 12 general elections in Bulgaria and the scandal with the 350 000 illegally printed ballots in due time. “We are familiar with the election results in Bulgaria, taking into account that there are overseas votes which are yet to be received by the Central Electoral Commission, and we also take into consideration the report of the observers of the electoral process from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe,” [...]

Bulgaria’s Ex-PM Mysteriously Meets Farmers, Escapes Journalists

Bulgarian center-right party GERB leader and former PM Boyko Borisov has held a meeting with agriculture producers Tuesday, but has not appeared to answer journalist’s questions. The meeting with farmers was held in GERB‘s headquarters at the National Palace of Culture in Sofia, says a GERB press release. The statement does not mention the reason behind the event. In an unprecedented move, GERB and its leader have not made a statement on the outcome of Bulgaria’s early general elections held Sunday. According to preliminary official results, the former ruling party came out first [...]

First Ten Eurovision Finalists Picked in Malmo, Sweden

After a two-hour show of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, broadcast live from Malmo Arena, audience across Europe selected the first ten finalists. Sixteen countries took part in the First Semi-final in order to qualify for 10 places available in Saturday’s final. Ireland, Moldova, Lithuania, Estonia, Belarus, Denmark, Russia, Belgium, Ukraine and The Netherlands managed to overcome the first obstacle in the Eurovision race and made it to the finals. www.novinite.com

Ian Poulter in Bulgaria: I Have Never Seen a Course Like That

As Bulgaria makes its debut on the European Tour, famous English golfer Ian Poulter admitted has has been taken aback by the picturesque seaside courseThracian Cliffs and its breathtaking views. “I don’t think I have ever seen any course like this and I’m wracking my brain trying to think if I’ve ever played a course like this, and I just can’t think of one,” said Poulter on Wednesday, before the tournament kicked off. “It’s been called the `Pebble Beach of Europe’ but there is only a few [...]

Govt ‘Thievery’ Must Stop in Bulgaria

Interview of Novinite.bg and Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency) with Emil Harsev, Bulgarian financial analyst and banker. Mr. Harsev, according to the official information received by the BGNES news agency from theMinistry of Finance according to the Law for Acces to Public Information, for the last 3 years ex Bulgarian PM Boyko Borisov‘s cabinet has spent BGN 170 ? onbonuses for civil servants. What is your comment on this finiding? Well, when summed this sounds a lot, but if we divide the money for 3 [...]

Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov Defeats Tennis World Number 1 Djocovic

Bulgarian up-and-comer Grigor Dimitrov just defeated World Tennis Number one, Serbian Novac Djocovic in the second round of the 2013 Mutua Madrid Open. The Bulgarian, just 21, from the southern town of Haskvovo, saved set point at 5-4 down in the first and another in the tie-break before winning the set. Djokovic won a second-set tie-break but Dimitrov showed incredible courage to secure the biggest win of his career, BBC reports. Serbian Djokovic, who won his third title of the year at last month’s Monte Carlo Masters, [...]