Weather In Bulgaria On March 29: Sunny Skies and Rising Temperatures Across The Country
Bulgaria is set to experience favorable weather conditions on March 29, with mostly sunny skies forecasted across the country
HOT: » Assessing the Legacy of Bulgaria's "Denkov" Cabinet: Achievements, Failures, and What Comes Next
The Washington Post
Romania and Bulgaria, the European Union's two newest members, were denied entry into Europe's borderless free-travel zone Thursday when EU interior ministers could not reach the necessary unanimity and decided not to hold a vote.
Poland's interior minister, Jerzy Miller, said angrily that both countries had been promised entry and had met the requirements.
"Today, the promise has been broken," Miller said. "Today, we were not confident enough to say we want to act together, not separately." Poland currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union.
"This leads me to rather sad conclusions about the trust between member states," Miller said.
The Bulgarian interior minister was harsher still, saying the refusal to admit the new countries undermined the EU project.
The outcome had been virtually certain before the meeting began. The Netherlands and Finland had publicly opposed admitting Romania and Bulgaria, both of which joined the European Union in 2007, saying they needed to do more to fight corruption and organized crime. Within the Schengen free-travel zone, there are no checks performed or papers required when people cross national borders.
The French and Germans had proposed a compromise: drop border checks at airports and seaports in October, but continue them on land crossings until summer 2013, based on a report to be completed by July. But that was rejected.
The free movement of people has been one of the EU's most cherished achievements. And the dispute over it comes just as the EU's other most-cherished achievement, the euro common currency, is also under severe stress.
The borderless travel dispute threatens to turn bitter. After the Dutch announced their opposition to Romania and Bulgaria joining, Romania began blocking all flower imports from the Netherlands, saying the paperwork was not in order and the plants might contain "dangerous bacteria."
Esther de Lange, a Dutch member of the European Parliament called the move "old-school blackmail."
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Brazen Bulgarian gangs "terrorise the elderly and rob them over their life savings with increasingly aggressive phone scams nettling millions of euros," according to an AFP story.
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.
Bulgarians have benefited a lot from their EU membership, with incomes rising and Brussels overseeing politicians, according to a New York Times piece.
German businesses prefer to trade with Bulgaria rather than invest into the country, an article on DW Bulgaria's website argues.
The truth about Bulgaria and Moldova's presidential elections is "more complicated" and should not be reduced to pro-Russian candidates winning, the Economist says.
President-elect Rumen Radev "struck a chord with voters by attacking the status quo and stressing issues like national security and migration," AFP agency writes after the presidential vote on Sunday.
UN Happiness Report: Bulgaria's Astonishing Leap in Rankings
Bulgaria: 3 Regions With Lowest Life Expectancy - EU Report 2022