EU Population Grows by Over a Million, While Bulgaria Continues to Shrink
As of January 1, 2025, the population of the European Union reached 450.4 million people
Nationalist leader Volen Siderov on Friday urged Bulgarian authorities to consider a referendum on the country's EU membership.
In a statement from Parliament's rostrum, Siderov argued that his Ataka party's theses on the downsides of the EU had been accepted by countries "as far [from Bulgaria] as Britain".
"Eight or nine years after [Bulgaria's accession] the Bulgarian is just as poor," Siderov told lawmakers, pointing out that Brussels had forced Sofia into closing nuclear reactors and cutting trade with "much of the world".
"An all of that was called prosperity," the leader noted.
He also referred to Britain as a US fifth column. "Could it be that the UK's exit from the EU means something bad is being prepared in Europe?," he asked rhetorically, in an apparent reference to NATO's decision to bolster its eastern flank in view of potential aggression coming from Russia.
A vast majority of Bulgarians back the country's EU membership, which began in 2007. On Friday, after results were announced of the Brexit referendum, Prime Minister Borisov joked one day Bulgaria, Romania and Greece might end up being the only EU member states, in an apparent reference to broad support for the union among their citizens.
Siderov's Ataka party has long advocated closer ties between Bulgaria and Russia, urging the former to quit both NATO and the EU.
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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