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Bulgarian report
by Euro Reporter
2012-08-05 12:01:31 |
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Fire in South-eastern Bulgaria contained
The fire in the south-eastern municipality of Nova Zagora was contained on Sunday at about 1:00 a.m. local time, Sliven district governor Marin Kavrakov said.
Low bushes, grass, leaves, and meadows were on fire. The flames were moving at the speed of the wind. A field of 20 decares was destroyed by the fire in 10-15 minutes; he said and added that cuttings were made to stop the fire from spreading.
The area of the fire is very big. Its front was about 40 km. No people were injured.
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Burgas bombing was planned abroad
The fatal bombing that targeted Israeli tourists at Bulgaria's Burgas airport last month was planned abroad, but the explosive device was likely made in Bulgaria, a top Interior Ministry official said Saturday. "I can definitely say that the attack was plotted, prepared and implemented by people who are very far away from Bulgaria," Ministry Chief of Staff Kalin Georgiev told Bulgaria's 24 Hours newspaper in an interview.
"They come, act and leave," he said. "We also cannot talk about so-called home-grown terrorism. The people who prepared the attack did not use local criminal infrastructures for logistic support," he added.
The bomb itself, however, was likely assembled on Bulgarian soil, Georgiev noted. "There is nothing specific about its make. Our experts estimate that it was assembled somewhere close as no one would risk carrying an activated improvised explosive device (IED)," he said. The bomb's components were legally available in any shop both in Bulgaria and abroad, he added. Discovering the bomber's identity was now "a prime task of the investigation," which was progressing, albeit slowly, Georgiev said.
On Wednesday, Bulgarian authorities released a computer generated image of the terrorist; his severed head, which was found on the scene of the attack, was used to compose the image. Prosecutors said last week they were working with the authorities in Belgium, Britain and Finland in an effort to identify the suspect's origin. Seven people were killed, five of them Israelis, and 34 people were injured, when a blast tore through a bus shuttling Israeli tourists in the terminal of Sarafovo Airport last month.
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Bulgaria may get 15% more EU funds for 2014-2020
If Bulgaria retains its current parameters, it stands the chance of getting 10-15% more EU money in the next programming period, according to EU Funds Minister Tomislav Donchev. In a Friday interview for Darik radio, he said that the expected increase in EU funds was not 100% certain. Donchev stressed, however, that Bulgaria would do everything possible to prevent a decrease of the EU allocations. He assured that Bulgaria would get EU funding for all of its key needs in the next programming period lasting until 2020.
The EU Funds Minister specified that 30% of all EU money would go to three sectors – water, roads and railway, 52% would be spent on energy efficiency measures, urban development, small and medium-sized enterprises, and innovations and scientific infrastructure, and 18% would be earmarked for the social sphere and boosting qualifications. "Bulgaria supports the strict financial discipline and the reforms imposed by the EU," Donchev stated.
"First of all, the entire Cohesion Policy will turn into an instrument for exerting substantial pressure to guarantee budget discipline. A simple rule will be introduced – if a country violates the deficit parameters, all of its EU funding under the different EU programs will be stopped immediately," Donchev made clear. He explained that all EU countries would have to commit to a list of concrete reforms to be implemented in key spheres. Donchev explained that the progress of each of the EU Member States would be monitored by end-December 2016 and if the results proved less than encouraging, the funding for the respective sphere could be stopped. He admitted that Bulgaria's good financial discipline was paid for by Bulgarian citizens "to some extent" but emphasized that there was no alternative.
Ovi+Europe euro-reporter Bulgaria Europe Ovi EU |
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