Bulgarian News Agency

For the first two months of the winter season, the tourism sector in Bulgaria reports a growth of over 5% compared to the same period last year. There is a significant increase in visits from Italy, while tourists from Israel are about 70% fewer. Bulgarian tourists have increased by 8% during the same period.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will meet on Thursday with Bulgaria's counterpart, Nikolai Denkov, at the Maximos Mansion, to discuss transport and energy projects.

The meeting, scheduled at 1.30 p.m., will be followed by a working lunch.

e number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in
 Bulgaria reached 420,859, after 13,668 tests identified 110 new
 infections on Thursday, according to data posted on
https://coronavirus.bg/. The test positivity rate now stands at
0.8 per cent.
Sofia tops the list of new cases with 41 positive tests,

Bulgarian actress Maria Bakalova will receive an honorary Askeer Award as a rising international star and ambassador of Bulgarian acting. The decision was made public on Thursday by the Bulgarian theatre awards foundation through its media partner, the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA). 

The health crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic greatly influenced the activity of European news agencies in terms of working procedures, and some expect a drop in revenues, according to the directors of some of these media outlets in interviews published on Monday on the European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA) website.

Religion is less important to Europeans than to people in Africa, Latin America or the United States, according to a study quoted by Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA) and the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA). At the same time, the drill conducted by the Pew Institute recognizes large differences between countries in Europe.

Greece is preparing to double the amount of road toll for the segment from the Kulata-Promahon CPS to Thessaloniki, the Bulgarian News Agency reported.

Hundreds of elderly people have gathered in front of the Presidency of Bulgaria, calling for a steep increase in retirement pensions over the next few years.

Caretaker Prime Minister Ognyan Gerdzhikov has dismissed both deputy regional governors of Kardzhali, officials say.

Selvie Ahmed and Rumen Mladenov are no longer Deputy Regional Governors of Kardzhali in Southern Bulgaria as of March 02.

Right-wingers and nationalists have in Bulgaria have vented anger over remarks of Turkey's Labour Minister who urged expats to vote for DOST party in the early election on March 26.