News archive of June 2014

The first group of six Romanian police officers will arrive in Bulgaria on Tuesday to assist the Romanian tourists spending their holiday in the local resorts.

“They [police officers] pushed me against the wall, which is why I have bruises on my arms and a hematoma under my eye,” Andrija Igic told BIRN on Monday.

Igic said that he was arrested on Friday because of “an alleged traffic violation and preventing an officer from performing his duties”.

Atanas Chikov, a Bulgarian living and working in London for 15 years, is publishing a handbook for Bulgarians who want to immigrate to the UK, reports Nova TV.

Two-thirds of the young families in Bulgaria have no savings, according to a study of the marketing research agency NOEMA and AMI Communications Bulgaria.

Some 28 percent of the young couples keep their money in bank deposits, 7% - in real estate and only 4% use it to start a business, Bulgarian National Radio reports.

Shares of Bulgaria's First Investment Bank were up 24% as of Monday, 13:00 EEST (11:00 GMT).

Data from the Sofia Stock Exchange, cited by website Capital.bg, came despite Friday's surge of panic among many Bulgarians following rumors spread via SMS and online that the bank could fail.

The information forced scores of people to withdraw their savings.

BELGRADE - Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic opened on Monday the Mammoth Park, part of the Viminacium archeological park near Kostolac, underlining that the site provides an unusual and modern way for young people to learn about ancient history.

LOZNICA - Zorana Mihajlovic, Serbia's deputy prime minister and minister of construction, transport and infrastructure, opened on Monday the repaired railway from Lesnica to Loznica, which was damaged in the severe floods, thus restoring rail freight traffic between Serbia and Republika Srpska.

Eighteen people have been arrested for the clashes in Kosovo’s divided Mitrovica region on June 22.

They will be charged with hooliganism, attacking officials, theft, and illegal possession of weapons, BalkanInsight reported.

The malicious rumours from last week caused mass panic and, as a result, thousands of people withdrew their savings (a total of more than 400 million euros) from First Investment Bank—the bank under attack.

The arrested are accused of sending texts and emails warning of bankruptcy and of using social media such as Facebook and YouTube to spread the ill-intentioned rumours.  

PNL (National Liberal Party) leader, Klaus Iohannis, believes that the name of Prime Minister Ponta appearing in the case of the chief of the Mehedinti County Council, Adrian Duicu, who was accused of influence peddling, represents 'a very serious situation' and pointed out that the relevant institutions should immediately try to clarify this aspect.