Interior Ministry

Germany will bar the use of critical components made by Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE in core parts of the country's 5G networks in two steps starting in 2026, the nation's top security official have said.

Germany, which has Europe's biggest economy, has long mulled what to do about components made by Chinese suppliers in its new-generation cellphone networks.

The caretaker Interior Minister has appointed a new National Police director, the Ministry said on Tuesday. Stanimir Stanev comes to replace Nikolai Hadjiev who will be reassigned. The reasons for Hadjiev's replacement remain unclear.

Turkey deported two foreign terrorist fighters of Kosovar national, according to the Interior Ministry on Dec. 17.

On Twitter, the ministry said Turkey will continue extraditing foreign terrorists.

The ministry did not mention the terrorist organizations the two people were reportedly linked to.

A passenger minibus had an accident at the junction for Apriltsi, on the road between the villages of Bulgarene and Malinovo, Lovech region.

According to preliminary information, the driver of Ford Transit, carrying a group of 8 children and their companion, did not respect the advantage and hit a car, the Interior Ministry said. All passengers are from Cherven Bryag.

NATO says it is investigating reports that at least nine Afghan police officers were killed in a U.S. air strike during a battle against Taliban insurgents in eastern Afghanistan.

Interior Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi earlier said nine police were killed and 14 wounded in the strike in the Azra district of Logar Province.

Montenegro said it seeks a status agreement with the EU's border and migration agency Frontex, to protect its border as a fresh migrant and refugee influx causes concern in the region and in Brussels.

An Interior Ministry document, which BIRN has seen, says an official application for a status agreement with Frontex "will be launched soon".

Iraqi forces have found more than 40 bodies, including those of women and children, in a mass grave in the city of Ramadi west of Baghdad, which they recently retook from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants, officials said.

A union representing the staff of Bulgaria's Interior Ministry is threatening to stage protests Wednesday over eleventh-hour changes to the 2016 draft budget that would result in massive spending cuts.

Part of the measures, which were reportedly added to the draft budget after it had already been voted by the cabinet last week, include changes to retirement rules.

The Taliban launched a complex attack on the Afghan parliament June 22, with a suicide car bomber striking at the entrance and gunmen battling police as lawmakers were meeting inside to confirm the appointment of a defense minister, police and witnesses said.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov will convene the Security Council at the Council of Ministers over tensions in Macedonia after Saturday's deadly clashes between police and an armed group in Kumanovo.

Borisov noted Tuesday that security services kept informing about risks for Bulgaria, according to reports of the Bulgarian National Radio.