Ministry of Interior

Serbia's interior ministry planned to buy Swedish-made facial recognition software last year and still might despite deep concern over the legality of such technology under the country's current legislation, BIRN can report.

Former Romanian Tourism Minister Elena Udrea, who was finally sentenced to six years in prison for corruption yesterday, has been arrested in Bulgaria and will be handed over to Romanian authorities, BTA reported.

10 mobile teams of the Ministry of Interior began to register Ukrainian citizens for temporary protection. The first registrations started today in two of the hotels in Sunny Beach and Sveti Vlas, where most Ukrainians fleeing the war are accommodated, BGNES reported.

Two employees of SANS (State Agency for National Security) at the middle management level and an employee of a Bulgarian Ministry but not of the Ministry of Interior, are the subject of investigations for espionage in favor of the Russian Federation after yesterday's two operations of SANS and the Specialized Prosecutor's Office. However, the three Bulgarians were not detained.

Ukrainian citizens have the right to enter without a visa and to stay in the Republic of Bulgaria for 90 days every 6 months. This was announced by the Migration Directorate of the Ministry of Interior.

How to Help People in Ukraine if You are in Bulgaria

More than 7,000 Ukrainians entered Bulgaria through three border crossings with Romania from midnight on February 24th to the morning of February 28th. Only four of them have applied for protection, Lora Lyubenova, a spokeswoman for the General Directorate of Border Police, told BTA.

Nearly ten hoteliers have already expressed readiness to accommodate newcomers from Ukraine, with 2,000 beds currently available, Varna's new regional governor Blagomir Kotsev said today, welcoming the two buses to the first to be evacuated from Odessa. He clarified that the beds are not only in the city, but also in the resorts in the area.

Bulgaria will do everything possible to evacuate its citizens in Ukraine, said President Rumen Radev after the extraordinary meeting of Dondukov 2.

He specified that only until the end of the meeting the number of people seeking evacuation exceeds 4,000.

Fire in the center of Sofia. The fire broke out at around 5.30 a.m. this morning on the third floor of a building on Khan Asparuh Street. It quickly spread to higher floors.

It is believed that the reason for the fire to grow so fast is that the building is a joist.

"My advisor and I are making a list of Bulgarians abroad who have the appropriate education to join the Interior Ministry, the new Anti-Corruption Commission, the special services," Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov announced on BTV.