Bulgaria Bans Sale of Disposable Vapes in Nationwide Crackdown
Bulgaria’s National Assembly has approved a nationwide ban on the sale of disposable electronic cigarettes
The Bulgarian Parliament's Legal Committee decided Friday to start a new procedure to elect and appoint a constitutional judge from the parliamentary quota.
On Thursday, controversial supreme magistrate, Veneta Markovska, elected to become one of the two new constitutional judges from the parliamentary quota, was prevented from taking the oath of office by Bulgarian President, Rosen Plevneliev, who left the ceremony, thus blocking her appointment.
The President left at the moment Markovska had to be sworn in. He delivered an address to the new members of the Constitutional Court, but left the hall when it was Markovska's turn to take the oath.
Plevneliev's move blocked her joining of the Constitutional Court since under the law the oath is considered valid only if taken in the presence of the Head of State.
On Friday, at an emergency meeting, the Legal Committee decided to shorten the procedure. Nominations can be submitted between November 22 and 30.
The GERB Chair of the Committee, Iskra Fidosova, pledged that this time all tipoffs against the candidates, even the anonymous ones will be probed.
Markovska's appointment stirred a huge scandal in Bulgaria over a tipoff sent to Members of the Parliament from the opposition and an investigative journalistic report raising suspicions of trading influence and corruption. She was approved by the MPs without a hearing and explanations about the allegations.
The case "Markovska" "traveled" all the way to the European Commission, which warned Bulgaria twice about the possibility of issuing an interim report under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism.
On Friday, the MPs from the ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms, DPS, left the Legal Committee's sitting, declaring they would not be part of the new procedure, on grounds the Parliament cannot be held responsible for the farce, created by the lack of coordination among institutions.
They say the case has tarnished the image of all institutions and has placed at risk the entire reputation of the Parliament from now on.
Brussels has unofficially warned Bulgaria’s Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova that the country’s euro adoption process could be suspended, according to BGNES, citing Nova TV.
"Everyone wants positions – in regulatory bodies and ministries," he emphasized.
Bulgaria’s toll system now has the technical capability to track average vehicle speeds, as announced by the National Toll Management following a meeting with Regional Development Minister Violeta Koritarova.
The income required to cover living expenses for a working individual and a three-member family with a child under 14 has remained almost unchanged compared to June, according to an analysis by the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CI
The Council of Ministers has adopted a resolution to set the minimum wage at 1,077 leva, reflecting a 15.
Every 20 minutes, fire alerts are received from across Bulgaria.
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