Bulgarian Parliament

At an extraordinary meeting, the legal commission in the Bulgarian parliament adopted changes to the Criminal Code and the Law on Domestic Violence. Penalties for minor and moderate bodily harm are increased, and intimate relationships are equated to cases of domestic violence along with de facto conjugal cohabitation.

The political forces in the Bulgarian parliament condemned yet another instance of violence against Bulgarian citizens in North Macedonia and united around the position that the country currently has no place in the European Union.

"The strategic partnership between Bulgaria and the USA is stronger than ever". This was said by Kenneth H. Merten, the newly appointed American ambassador to Bulgaria, during an event organized by the Atlantic Club in Bulgaria and led by the president of the organization - Solomon Passy.

The Bulgarian Parliament finally approved the 2023 Budget in a meeting that started at 9 a.m. yesterday and lasted almost 21 hours.

The financial framework is calculated at a deficit of three percent - on an accrual basis, with the preservation of a large part of the originally proposed capital program.

The Bulgarian Parliament voted and elected Dimitar Radev as Governor of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) with a mandate of 6 years. He was nominated by GERB-SDS.

Hackers from the Russian group NoName057(16) announced that they blocked access to the website of the Bulgarian Parliament, as well as to the port of Varna. In March of this year, the same group paralyzed the website of the French Senate, several institutes and the naval company Naval Group.

After more than three and a half hours of debate and 98 votes "against", the Bulgarian parliament rejected the draft decision of "Vazrazhdane" to hold a referendum that would postpone Bulgaria's entry into the Eurozone for twenty years.

The Bulgarian Parliament may postpone the referendum on the euro initiated by "Vazrazhdane" for more than a year. This became clear from the words of Professor Nataliya Kiselova to Nova TV. The deadline for parliament to decide on this referendum expires on Friday.

Bulgaria will in all probability enter Schengen by the end of the year and the admission will be in two stages. In October, border control at the airports will be abolished, and in January 2024 - the ground control as well.

This was reported by the Brussels-based publication Euractiv, citing sources from diplomatic circles in Brussels, the Bulgarian parliament and the government.

Bulgaria's Chief Public Prosecutor Ivan Geshev (R) walks before the meeting of the Supreme Judicial Council in Sofia, Bulgaria, 08 June 2023. Bulgaria's Supreme Judicial Council will consider two requests for early termination of the mandate of the Prosecutor General.