FlixBus Expands Routes from Bulgaria: New Connections to Thessaloniki, Athens, and More
FlixBus, the renowned European bus company, is set to launch new routes to and from Bulgaria in anticipation of the summer season
Three Bulgarian municipalities will have their access to cross-border EU funding cut as Turkey has banned any partnership with them, private bTV station reported.
Haskovo, Burgas and Svilengrad, municipalities whose central cities lie near the border with Turkey, have been barred from cooperating with local authorities in Edirne, the Turkish municipality on the other side of the border, as Ankara has prohibited that they work together.
Edirne Mayor Recep G?rkan has told bTV that the Foreign Ministry of Turkey had explicitly forbidden any interaction with Haskovo due to what it perceives as a controversial position about the mass killings of Armenians in the 20th century. Separately, the local administrations of Haskovo and Burgas earlier adopted statements deploring the "Armenian genocide".
Last April, the sister cities of Haskovo and Edirne froze ties over the decision of Haskovo that the park will bear the name "Armenians".
Local authorities in Haskovo decided to rename the park in the days when Armenians around the world were marking a centenary since the mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire began (and which lawmakers in Sofia voted to call "mass extermination", but not "genocide").
Mayor G?rkan then called the decision of Haskovo a result of a "unilateral, selective and divisive view of a period that is tragic for the entire population of the Ottoman Empire."
Now he can be heard suggesting in bTV's report that the respective local administrations should reverse their decisions as "Yambol did". Yambol is another municipality located at the Bulgaria-Turkey border with which cooperation was suspended, but then restored.
However, Haskovo Mayor Dobri Belivanov is adamant that "no-one can interfere" to make authorities change the name of a street or a park. (The decision to name a park "Armenians" was taken under his predecessor, Georgi Ivanov.)
As an external border of the EU, Bulgaria is part of the bloc's cross-border program whose total worth for the 2014-2020 is an estimated EUR 1 B.
A total of EUR 11 M potentially available to the three regions of Bulgaria under the cross-border cooperation program. As regards Turkey, the bulk of this sum has been earmarked for environment preservation and disaster management.
We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!
A damning report from the US State Department has unveiled a troubling reality of systematic racial and ethnic violence and discrimination against Bulgarians in the Republic of North Macedonia
The debate surrounding the inclusion of Bulgarians in North Macedonia's constitution, a crucial precondition for the country's European Union accession talks, has taken center stage in the ongoing presidential campaign
Amid escalating tensions on its borders and a significant increase in the Ministry of National Defense budget, Romania is discreetly preparing for the reintroduction of compulsory military service
In a strategic move aimed at bolstering their defense capabilities, Romania and South Korea have embarked on negotiations for joint arms production, signaling a significant milestone in their bilateral relations
Romania is making strides toward joining the Visa Waiver Program, a significant milestone that would enable its citizens to travel to the United States visa-free for up to 90 days
The Romanian parliament has voted to impose stringent restrictions on the gambling sector, marking a significant shift in the country's regulatory landscape
UN Happiness Report: Bulgaria's Astonishing Leap in Rankings
Bulgaria: 3 Regions With Lowest Life Expectancy - EU Report 2022