State Agency for National Security

Bulgaria's banking system faces no criminal and cyber threats, said the head of the State Agency for National Security (DANS) Vladimir Pisanchev.

Speaking after an international conference on information security and data storage, he told journalists that the country's bank system was safe for the time being.

The website of Bulgaria's Ministry of Culture has been subject to a hacking attack.

As of 10:35 EEST (08:35 GMT), a message from the Team Dz Algeria Hackers, who claim to be the perpetrators, appears on the homepage calling for the "freedom for Palestine and All Muslims'.

"Hacking is not just a crime... Hacking is lifestyle," their text also reads.

Three Bulgarian nationals have been arrested in a special operation of the State Agency for National Security (DANS) aimed at intercepting a drug deal.

The special operation was conducted on September 2, 2014 on the territory of Sofia district by DANS officers under the management of the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office.

A repetition of last year's events at the Kostinbrod state printing house is impossible, the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) says.

Bulgarian police have intercepted an international drug trafficking ring, seizing a shipment of 46kg of heroin worth BGN 5.7M.

On August 24, Bulgarian border police stopped a Mercedes car with a Belgian registration plate. The vehicle, driven by a Turkish national living in Belgium, was stopped for an excise duty goods probe, according to reports of the Customs Agency.

The State Agency for National Security (DANS) has intercepted an international antiquities trafficking ring from Bulgaria to countries in Western Europe, US and Russia.

The special operation was conducted on August 21 under the supervision of the prosecuting authority, according to the press office of DANS.

Sofia Court of Appeals has dismissed Gergo Gergov, mayor of the Bulgarian town of Vidin.

The move was demanded by the Prosecutor's Office to avoid a risk of "putting pressure" on witnesses, according to the Bulgarian National Radio.

Prosecutors indicted Gergov after he was arrested in an investigation carried out by the State Agency for National Security (DANS).

Bulgaria's Caretaker Prime Minister Georgi Bliznashki has announced the names of ten advisers who are to enter his team, the Council of Ministers' press office said.

Georgi Georgiev, a former Deputy Minister of Regional Development (2001-2003) and former Chief Secretary of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education (2001-2003), will become Bliznashki's Chief of Staff.

Caretaker Interior Minister Yordan Bakalov on Monday vowed “no mercy’’ for vote buying at the upcoming elections and ruled out a repeat of Kostinbrod fake ballots scandal.

The Mayor of the Mladost residential district in Varna, Hristo Hristov, was arrested in a special operation of the State Agency for National Security (DANS).

The district police directorate in the Black Sea city of Varna announced that they had cooperated in the arrest of Hristov and made clear that the full investigation and the reason for the arrest was only known to DANS.