Bulgaria

Bilateral relations between Spain and Bulgaria are really modest, according to José Manuel García-Margallo y Marfil, Spain's Foreign Minister.

"Bulgaria is 33rd among our clients and 66th among our suppliers. Export, import, and investments are modest," he said at a forum devoted to bilateral relations held in Sofia.

Bulgaria's Tourism Ministry is preparing legal amendments that will facilitate the construction of ski lifts and facilities, according to Tourism Minister Nikolina Angelkova.

Angelkova met Monday with representatives of ski resorts, concessionaires of ski lifts and local authorities.

Spain's Foreign Minister José García-Margallo y Marfil arrives Tuesday in Sofia on an official visit at the invitation of his Bulgarian counterpart Daniel Mitov.

During the visit, he will be received by Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boyko Borisov too, according to the press office of the Foreign Ministry.

Following a meeting between Bulgarian Tourism Minister Nikolina Angelkova and Kihachiro Nishiura, President and Representative Director of Japan-Southeast Europe Business Association (JSEEBA) on Monday, it emerged that Bulgaria will have a tourist information centre in Tokyo.

The Bulgarian government is to establish a national council on anti-corruption policies, which will be an inter-institutional body with consultative, coordinating and control functions.

The body will be established as part of the implementation of the new anti-corruption strategy, which was adopted in April.

As many as 75.7 per cent of Romanians agree that NATO membership protects Romania against national security threats, while 45.9 per cent of them expect the US to be Romania's main ally in case of such threats, according to the findings of a recent Inscop poll released on Monday.

Photo credit: (c) CRISTIAN NISTOR / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

A Bulgarian-US military training "Thracian Eagle-2" starts Monday at the Graf Ignatievo airbase and will continue until end-June.

The training is a part of Operation Atlantic Resolve of the United States Air Force aimed at guaranteeing the security of NATO allies, according to the Bulgarian National Radio.

Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev has boasted that the Mayor of Ulaanbaatar plans to pay a visit to Sofia to examine the construction of the Sofia subway.

Plevneliev is on an official visit to Mongolia.

A narrow-gauge train in Southwestern Bulgaria "is a lifeline for surrounding villages, but could face the axe," Channel News Asia warns in a report.

This happens as Bulgaria's state railways, hobbled by "corruption and mismanagement," are seeking to modernize a network mired "in losses and debt", according to Channel News.

Bulgaria's counter-intelligence and security agency DANS must have the competence of prohibiting travels abroad if the person concerned could potentially threaten national security, officials say.