Bulgaria

Vice President Iliana Iotova has fended off claims that the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) is wielding influence on the presidency.

In an interview with private NOVA TV, however, she has warned one cannot expect of her to "give up the BSP overnight."

"Twenty of my best years are linked to the BSP," Iotova, a former MEP and core BSP member, has recalled.

Former Interior Ministry Chief Secretary Georgi Kostov has described his dismissal as an instance of "lawlessness" and has repeatedly argued he was pressured into stepping down.

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev earlier this week signed a decree dismissing Kostov, who had been appointed in 2015 under the previous government.

After Donald Trump's surpising victory in the US eletion, Bulgaria has become one of the formerly Communist countries in the East going through a surge of populist politicians, the New York Times has noted in a profile of businessman Veselin Mareshki.

Locals in Elin Pelin, Western Bulgaria, will protest against authorities' decision to deny registration to a Syrian family.

The development sparked outrage across Bulgaria, but also a wave of support for Elin Pelin's mayor who cited fears of the locals that a wave of migrants might follow if the Syrians are allowed to settle.

Election authorities in Bulgaria are not to decide until Saturday on whether voting machines will be commissioned for the snap poll due in a month.

The final say is expected a day into the election campaign, after the Central Election Commission (CEC) said needed more time than the initial deadline on Friday as it was waiting for a report by a special subcommission.

European deputies might call on the European Commission to reinstate the visa regime for US citizens, reported Ekonomik.bg.

The purpose is to encourage Washington to abolish visas required for the citizens of Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Poland and Romania.

The Central Election Commission must decide on Friday whether the only firm which made an offer for the delivery of machines for electronic voting fulfils the requirements.

Former head of the Bulgarian national intelligence service, Kircho Kirov, thinks that Serbia is becoming "a regional military factor."

Beta agency reported this on Thursday, citing Kirov as saying that his country, as a NATO member, "has problems with its rearmament, while Serbia is receiving modern Russian combat equipment for free."

Overall annual net migration to the UK by September 2016 stood at 273 000 people, falling by 49,000 people compared to the same period in 2015, the latest migration data revealed by the Office for National Statistics, ONS, shows.

Bulgarians who will vote in the country in the snap parliamentary elections on March 26 will be able to note their preference for a candidate for parliamentary deputy on the list of the preferred political formation but Bulgarians voting abroad will not be able to do so.