Meglena Kuneva

Hungarian Prime Minister Orban arrives in Sofia on Thursday for a two-day visit, which was not announced in advance, to discuss the state of the EU's external borders.

 Yavor Siderov, adviser to Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister Meglena Kuneva, said Orban and Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov would "discuss the refugee crisis and the [passport-free] Schengen [zone]".

The cabinet of Bulgaria has refused to urge the Supreme Judicial Council (VSS), the high decisonmaking body of the judiciary, to step down, despite criticism against it in the EU Commission's report published Wednesday.

Governing parties demanded a day earlier that the VSS dissolve itself, amid a number of scandals involving its members over the past days.

Parties forming Bulgaria's governing coalition on Tuesday urged the Supreme Judicial Council (VSS) to dissolve itself following a string of scandals involving VSS members in recent days.

The call for dissolving the VSS comes just a day before the release of a key report of the European Commission under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM).

Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister Meglena Kuneva called on Tuesday on the members of the Supreme Judicial Council (VSS) to resign in order to preserve the reputation of the institution.

Kuneva added that the members of VSS have to decide for themselves whether to submit their resignations or not as the other authorities can urge them to resign, but are not capable of dismissing them.

Ten commercial chambers representing the leading trade partners of Bulgaria, which have invested more than 20 billion euros direct in the country in the past two decades, have written to the Bulgarian authorities urging them to reform the courts.

A forum on combating human trafficking is taking place in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia on Tuesday.

The meeting entitled "Preparation of a strategy on countering human trafficking" began at 9:30 EET in the Musala hall of Hilton hotel.

With the Schengen borderless area going through "a challenge", it is not the right moment for Bulgaria to insist on joining, Austria's Ambassador to the country, Roland Hauser, has said.

The junior coalition partner, the Reformist (Bloc), will decide on Tuesday whether to continue its support for the Bulgarian government.

The parties constituting RB and the five ministers from the bloc will meet at an extraordinary executive council.

The meeting comes after the resignation of Justice Minister Hristo Ivanov last week and the ensuing splits within the bloc.

Bulgaria's Deputy Prime Minister Meglena Kuneva has said her party, Bulgaria for Citizens Movement (DBG), will not withdraw its support for the government of Boyko Borisov.

DBG is one of the three core parties of the Reformist Bloc (RB), a loose coalition of parties that is the junior partner in Borisov's government.

The two main partners in Bulgaria´s minority government will not agree on a single nomination to take over as Justice Minister, as Hristo Ivanov resigned after Parliament voted to approve a reform package for the judiciary system.

Tsveta Karayancheva, an MP from the main ruling GERB party, told reporters on Thursday her party would put forward its own candidate.