Chris Lunday Berlin: Berlin’s incoming government, formed by Friedrich Merz’s conservative Christian Democrats and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), has released a coalition agreement outlining plans for a new voluntary military service to rebuild the overstretched and steadily shrinking ranks of Germany’s armed forces, the Bundeswehr. The plan involves sending a mandatory questionnaire to all […]

Newswire Sofia: The Ministry of Energy of Bulgaria has selected 82 winning energy storage projects for a share of BGN 1.15 billion (€588 million/US$670 million) in financial support. The scheme will support the construction and commissioning of 82 standalone energy storage projects with a total of BGN1,149,013,428.49 spread across the projects, which will add up […]

Newswire Berlin: Germany’s next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, says he will travel to Paris and Warsaw as soon as possible and coordinate closely with both capitals on confronting Donald Trump. In an interview with German tabloid Bild, Merz gave an insight into his foreign policy planning for his first days in office which is expected to […]

Newswire Sofia: According to recent data from the Trend Research Center, shared during the “Personal Finance” event by Money.bg, 38% of Bulgarians are unable to set aside any savings. Among those who do manage to save, only a small number allocate over 10% of their income, and just 1% save more than 30%. Interestingly, residents […]

Nadine Mena Michollek Berlin: More than 4,000 exhibitors are expected to showcase their innovations at what is billed as the world’s largest industrial trade fair, with visitors from approximately 150 countries expected. As in previous years, the fair is a must on the calender especially of small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) from Germany and elsewhere, […]

Newswire Sofia: An unexpected discovery emerged during preparatory work for the installation of a natural gas pipeline near the village of Borimechkovo in the Pazardzhik region of Bulgaria. Workers uncovered the remains of a Late Roman period settlement covering an area of 4,400 square meters, according to Enikos. Archaeologists swiftly stepped in and found a […]

Berlin: The armed forces are also a focus, with Merz and the Social Democrats committed to a massive military buildup after years of neglect, as well as continued backing for Ukraine. Germany’s move to unlock hundreds of billions of euros in debt-financed defense and infrastructure spending passed its final legislative hurdle on Friday when lawmakers […]

Newswire Sofia: In a post on X this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that he had had a meaningful conversation with Bulgarian Prime Minister Rossen Zhelyazkov and had “expressed gratitude for Bulgaria’s unwavering support for Ukraine”. “We deeply appreciate the solidarity of the Bulgarian people,” said Zelenskyy, who is attending the special European Council […]

Celina Ali Islamabad: Pakistan’s trade future is receiving a vote of confidence from German trade leader Dr. Michael Arretz, Managing Director of the German Importers Association, who is demonstrating this through significant investments and initiatives. Dr. Arretz is currently in Pakistan, actively training local textile manufacturers, investing in the “Green Pakistan” project, and working to […]

Newswire Sofia: Bulgaria’s Interior Minister, Daniel Mitov, said this week that the country’s border with Türkiye is among the best-protected external European Union frontiers, based on the statistical data. The Minister said that the Interior Ministry is managing quite well the increasing amounts of drugs being seized and human traffickers arrested along Bulgaria’s Schengen borders, […]

Celina Ali Islamabad: In a significant step toward advancing climate action, prominent government leaders from Pakistan and Germany convened at the Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination (MoCC&EC) for a high-level bilateral meeting. The discussions focused on strengthening Pakistan’s carbon market rules and regulations, policies, integrity, and infrastructure, with an emphasis on leveraging climate […]

Newswire Sofia: Bulgaria had the lowest percentage in the European Union of internet users who made online purchases in 2024, EU statistics agency Eurostat said this week. Online shopping in the EU continues to expand, according to the latest annual survey on ICT usage in households and by individuals, Eurostat said. In 2024, 77 per […]

Newswire Sofia: Customs officers from the district of Rousse in Bulgaria have stopped an attempt to smuggle 1620kg of refrigerant at the border with Romania. The truck, driven by a Bulgarian national, was stopped on the ring road of the city Vidin on the approach to the Vidin to Calafat bridge crossing to Romania. Also […]

Munich: Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany on Saturday accused Vice President JD Vance of unacceptably interfering in his country’s imminent elections on behalf of a party that has played down the atrocities committed by the Nazis 80 years ago. A day after Mr. Vance stunned the Munich Security Conference by telling German leaders to drop […]

Celina Ali Islamabad: Pakistan this week sought technical support from Germany to develop its climate action plans and accelerate the transition to clean energy sources, according to Coordinator to the Prime Minister for Climate Change, Romina Khurshid Alam. During a meeting with a three-member delegation from Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, led […]

Sofia: The newly elected government in Sofia this week reaffirmed its commitment to the country’s entry into the eurozone in 2026 and promised to keep a tight lid on budget spending. PM Rosen Zhelyazkov announced that the 2025 budget will set a deficit of no more than 3%, which would meet the Maastricht criteria, amid […]

Newswire Sofia: Bulgaria has made progress in meeting the convergence criteria for joining the eurozone, according to European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde. Speaking at a news conference, she noted that the assessment primarily falls under the European Commission’s jurisdiction but emphasized that the process in Bulgaria is advancing. Lagarde highlighted that the ECB’s […]

Vanessa Wachtmeister Berlin: At the age of 33, I sometimes feel like I’ve already lived a thousand lives. I’m originally from Los Angeles, and over the last decade, I’ve done everything from teaching English in China to serving as an emergency aid worker in Turkey during the war in Syria. After I completed my master’s […]

Newswire Sofia: In 2024, Bulgaria secured approximately 32 billion leva in EU funding. A significant portion of these funds has been directed toward large-scale infrastructure ventures, making a visible impact across the country. Sofia received the largest portion, totalling 6.2 billion leva. Significant investments include expanding the Sofia Metro and other critical infrastructure upgrades. Plovdiv […]

Newswire Sofia: The Caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ivan Kondov, said this week that Bulgaria has made significant progress in meeting the needed requirements for inclusion in the US Visa Waiver Program. Among the technical requirements for inclusion in this program is maintaining a tourist visa refusal rate for Bulgarians under three per cent. While […]

Berlin: Germany’s Foreign Ministry this week launched a new digital platform for visa applications, with its Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock hailing it as “a real administrative revolution” in a press release. The digital portal, available here, aims to ease access to necessary documents for those wanting to work, study or join their family in Germany. […]

Newswire Sofia: Sales of luxury and superluxury cars in Bulgaria reached a new record in 2024, according to data on new car registrations quoted by Dnevnik news outlet this week. Although Bulgaria remains the EU’s poorest country, Bulgarians purchased cars costing as much as €2.5mn, such as the limited edition Mercedes AMG One. Four Bulgarians […]

Sofia: In the summer, the beach of Shabla, a small town in northeastern Bulgaria, hosts families and tourists eager to spend time in a quiet natural place overlooking the Black Sea. A few kilometres away, right near the border with Romania, the town of Durankulak features a Neolithic archaeological site and a lake that provides […]

Tasos Kokkinidis Athens: A recent analysis of fossils recovered in the 1990s in the village of Nikiti in northern Greece supports the controversial theory that apes, the ancestors of humans, evolved in Southeastern Europe instead of Africa. The 8 or 9-million-year-old fossils had first been linked to the extinct ape called Ouranopithecus. However, a team […]