Bulgaria

Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, arrives on Monday in Bulgaria upon the invitation of Bulgaria's President Rosen Plevneliev.

Prince Edward is the chairperson of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and will arrive in Bulgaria on the occasion of the centenary of the start of World War I. 

Bulgaria's Ivaylo Filev won the gold medal in the 62kg category at the European Weightlifting Championships in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Filev lifted a total of 299kg from his two attempts, for his first ever European title. His best achievement so far had been a bronze medal from the World Championships in 2007.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen will come to Bulgaria on a two-day visit on Thursday. 

According to government sources, the visit is surprising as only several days ago the country was visited by one of Rasmussen's deputies – the assistant secretary general for political affairs and security policy Terry Stamatopoulos. 

Bulgarian tour operators are concerned by a possible drop in the number of Ukrainian and Russian tourists this summer.

According to the newspaper Capital Daily, another reason, besides severe tensions between the two countries, is the fall in value of the Ukrainian hryvnia and the Russian ruble to the euro – by 46 and 20 per cent respectively.

Hospitals have run up debts of over BGN 0.5 B since the beginning of the term in office of the current socialist-led government, according to Bulgarian Health Minister Tanya Andreeva.

Bulgaria's northeastern city of Dobrich has started building the biggest skatepark in the country.

The project includes four lakes, a rock scene, a water cascade, a natural ice skating rink and recreational facilities.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski is to arrive in Vietnam on Sunday for an official visit by April 9, according to the press office of the government.

On Sunday, Oresharski is to attend the opening of the first Bulgarian restaurant, "Sofia", in the city of Hanoi, and to meet with Vietnamese nationals who studied and worked in Bulgaria

Center-right party GERB has vowed to include Bulgarian Muslims as candidates for the 2014 European elections to challenge the monopoly of liberal party DPS.

Gergo Gergov, Mayor of Bulgaria's northwestern city of Vidin, has reported an unsuccessful report on his life.

Speaking at an extraordinary press conference on Sunday, he announced that a Molotov bomb had been placed overnight under his car parked in his yard.

Bulgarian heavyweight boxer Kubrat Pulev scored a 3rd round stoppage win against Croatia's Ivitsa Perkovic at a match in Rostock, Germany.

Perkovic quit after the third round, according to reports of Darik radio.