Member states of NATO

Panicked Thinking

A file picture dated 11 September 2006 shows the Units 5 and 6 of the Bulgarian nuclear power plant during a sunrise in the town of Kozloduy. Photo: EPA/VASSIL DONEV

According to the latest Openness Index, which ranked the governments and parliaments in four countries from the Western Balkans - North Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Government of North Macedonia was ranked first on the list, while the country's Parliament was ranked third, meta.mk reported.

Bulgarian police arrested a Russian citizen and two Lithuanians on suspicion of exporting "sensitive information" from the Arsenal military plant in Kazanlak.

Too late Bulgaria began to explain its own position towards North Macedonia, as it should have been clear to our European partners some time ago. Bulgaria has made mistakes in building this policy. Bulgarian conditions and requirements had to be stated in the 90s.

This was the comment of Bobi Bobev, a diplomat and former Bulgarian ambassador to Kosovo and Albania.

Immediate decisions cannot be made to resolve the dispute between Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia, because Bulgaria is facing parliamentary and presidential elections. This was stated by German Chancellor Angela Merkel after the end of the EU-Western Balkans summit in Slovenia.

Ahead of an EU-Western Balkans Summit held here on Wednesday, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev reconfirmed his country's reluctance to greenlight Skopje's EU accession negotiations unless North Macedonia honours its commitments to address the moot points in bilateral relations.

If former Bulgarian PM Boyko Borissov's GERB party returns to power, it will restore friendship with North Macedonia based on the 2017 landmark friendship treaty between the two countries, and support its EU accession, Borrisov told the Bulgarian media on Tuesday.

Szentgotthard – Minister for Slovenians Abroad Helena Jaklitsch attended a traditional meeting of Slovenian sport organisations from the neighbouring countries in Hungary’s Szentgotthárd on Saturday. The minister emphasised the importance of sport in preserving the Slovenian identity in the neighbouring countries.

A pier on fire in Dubrovnik, Croatia during the war in November 1991. Photo: EPA/PETER NORTHALL.

European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi paid a one-day working visit to Bulgaria on Tuesday.