Russia

Interview of Novinite.com with Ukraine's Ambassador to Bulgaria, Mykola Baltazhy, on the situation in Ukraine, its relations with the European Union, and the challenges that lie ahead of the country.

Economic sanctions imposed on Russia over current crisis in Ukraine may trigger a wave of unemployment in Latvia, according to a top official.

Some 20 thousand Latvian residents may lose their jobs, State Secretary of the Latvian Ministry of Welfare Ieva Jaunzeme claimed, Monday.

UN asked to join "anti-terrorist" operation in east Ukraine

KIEV -- Ukraine's acting President Oleksandr Turchynov has invited the UN to deploy forces in eastern parts of the country.

Pro-Russian protesters have occupied public buildings in ten towns in that region of Ukraine.

The EU has officially approved an aid package of EUR 1 B for Ukraine in a bid to help the interim government deal with the deep financial problems of the country.

At a meeting of EU Foreign Ministers in Luxembourg, the customs duties on Ukrainian goods were lowered in a move expected to save the country around EUR 500 M a year.

World military expenditure totalled USD 1.75T in 2013, a fall of 1.9% since 2012, according to figures released by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Ukraine's interim President Oleksandr Turchynov does not rule out the holding of a referendum on the state system.

DS MPs: PACE vote was in Serbia's interest

BELGRADE -- Nataša Vučković says she and another DS official voted in favor of "the (PACE) resolution on Ukraine" because they thought it was "in the interest of Serbia."

The planned South Stream pipeline project is a display of the excellent relations the Kremlin has with the Bulgarian government, according to an article published in Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

The decision taken by Bulgaria's government in March regarding the South Stream was astonishing, the author, Florian Hassel, argues.

Naydenov said that although no violations of Bulgarian airspace had been observed, Russia’s regular Black Sea military overflights were still worrying.

"You don't think that [Russian aircraft] are flying just for an innocent air stroll or to flap their wings at sea tourists, do you?" Naydenov said in an interview with newspaper 24 Chasa.

In the EU there are Trojan queens and Trojan rooks of Russia, but Bulgaria is at most a Trojan pawn, said former Bulgarian foreign minister Solomon Passy. 

Passy was invited to the national TV channel bTV morning talkshow to comment on a recent publication in Reuters, which said Bulgaria was Russia's Trojan horse in the EU.