Blagoevgrad Province

Environmentalists are celebrating after winning a court case over plans to expand a ski resort in one of Bulgaria's national parks.

The scheme, approved by Bulgaria's government late last year, was ruled illegal by the country's special administrative court on Monday.

A fisherman's body was found in Struma river near the village of Cherniche. A signal was filed at 10.30 am, Yordanka Sharkova, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Interior, Blagoevgrad, told BTA.

Together with another man they were on night fishing.

The drowned man is from Dupnitsa.
 
On-site investigations are carried out to clarify the causes of the incident.

A man died after being struck by a lightning on Mount Orelyak in Pirin.
 
The Mountain Rescue Service in Bansko confirmed to the Bulgarian National Radio that the man had died on the spot. A report of an incident in the mountain over Gotse Delchev was received at the rescue service on duty in Bansko about 14 hours.

Two national parks in Bulgaria are threatened by construction plans according to a letter sent last week to the European Commission by representatives of all major political groups in the European Parliament.

The government has approved BGN 100,000 in addition to the budget of the Ministry of Culture. The funds are provided for the continuation of the field archaeological researches of one of the most significant archaeological sites in Bulgaria - Heraclea Sintica in the Rupite area near Petrich, BGNES reported.

Environmentalists are coming out tonight in an 8th protest against building a second lift in Bansko, the BNR reported. They insist on changing the Pirin National Park management plan.

Skiers are unwittingly contributing to the destruction of one of Europe's last wildernesses, home to brown bears, grey wolves and the lesser spotted eagle, according to a conservation charity.

Roadmap for developing the mountain sustainably outlined

Thousands gathered for the fifth consecutive protest in defense of the Pirin Nature Park in Sofia tonight. The protest procession went from Nezavisimost Square to the Council of Ministers building and continued to Orlov Bridge.

...: Protests Mark the Opening of Bulgaria's EU PresidencyAs Bulgarian and European officials were making speeches at the opening ceremony for Bulgaria's first EU Presidency in Sofia on Thursday evening, outside, thousands of people took to the streets to protest a controversial development plan in the UNESCO-protected Pirin national park.