Rumen Radev

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev and Croatian counterpart Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic demand that countries applying for the EU have to speed up reform, affirm democratic values and the rule of law and protect their minorities, Radev's office says.

President Rumen Radev continues to rely that Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will reach an agreement on the easing of sanctions against Russia and, according to him, this will be the determining factor regarding the stance of Bulgaria and the EU on this issue.

The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Bulgaria is not considering the option that there will be no machine voting in the early election due in less than six weeks.

In an interview with Focus Radio, its spokesperson Aleksandar Andreev has rejected claims that it was late in responding to the lack of machines.

Bulgarian President (2012-2017) Rosen Plevneliev will receive the Friends of Israel award from his serving Israeli counterpart, Reuven Rivlin, Plevneliev has said in an interview.

Interim PM Ognyan Gerdzhikov has called for the quickest possible solution on the issue of the nomination of a Bulgarian European Commissioner so that the country does not face a difficult situation months before taking over the presidency of the Council of the EU.

Journalist Elena Yoncheva will be a BSP for Bulgaria candidate, reported Dnevnik daily.

The Executive Bureau of the party discussed the leaders of the candidates lists with which the party will participate in the snap elections on March 26. These have to be confirmed by the National Council of the party on Saturday.

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has said his country needs access to the Schengen information system to bolster border protection.

Visiting Berlin, Radev has told counterpart Joachim Gauck his country counts on Germany to support it on its way to joining the Schengen area without border control.

President Rumen Radev is set to meet counterpart Joachim Gauck while on a one-day visit to Germany, his press office says.

Two caretaker ministers, Radi Naydenov (Foreign Affairs) and Teodor Sedlarski (Economy) will be accompanying him.

The prospect of US President Donald Trump's moving closer to Russia has scrambled the strategy of "balancing East and West" used for decades by countries like Bulgaria, the New York Times says.

An eager EU member, Bulgaria has seen Russian influence creep in "as rising nationalism caused support for the union to wane", the report goes on.

President Rumen Radev participated on Friday in an informal meeting of the European Council held in Malta.

The heads of state and government leaders of EU member-states discussed in Valletta the issues related to the migrant influx in Europe, as well as Brexit, reported the government's press service.