National Assembly

Thousands of people took to the streets on Thursday to protest the government's plans for budget cuts, the new pension reform and the situation in the energy sector.

The action was called in by the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB), one of the country's two biggest trade unions. The second one, Podkrepa Labor Confederation (KT Podkrepa), did not attend.

BELGRADE - Leading sports experts Ranko Zeravica and Aleksandar Boricic have been presented with special awards of the Sports Association of Serbia (SSS) at a ceremony held at the House of the National Assembly of Serbia.

Admitting Bulgaria into the EU's borderless Schengen zone is a legal problem rather than a political one, according to European Parliament President Martin Schulz.

Speaking at a joint news conference with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov in Brussels on Thursday, Schulz said that when EU member states meet certain criteria, they become entitled to certain legal rights.

A crowd of a few hundred people mainly formed by actors, directors, musicians, writers and artists has staged a sit-in at a key square in downtown Sofia and then by the Parliament building.

The Palestinian leadership urged France to act on a parliamentary vote Dec. 2 in favour of recognising Palestine as a state, expressing its "gratitude" to the French lawmakers.

"We call on the French government to translate its parliament's vote into action," Hanan Ashrawi, a senior leader in the Palestine Liberation Organisation, said in a statement.

The Budget and Finance Committee of the National Assembly dismissed the proposal of Bulgaria's main governing party GERB to increase the tax on interest earned from bank deposits from 8 to 10 %.

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Romanian embassy marks holiday with reception

BELGRADE -- Romania lends strong support to Serbia, both on political and technical levels, along its EU accession pathway, says Romanian Ambassador to Serbia Daniel Banu.

He was addressing a reception held in Belgrade on the occasion of Romania's national holiday.

BELGRADE - Romania lends strong support to Serbia, both on political and technical levels, along its EU accession pathway, Romanian Ambassador to Serbia Daniel Banu stated at a reception held on the occasion of Romania's national holiday.

European socialists' leader Sergey Stanishev has announced he is ready to work with Bulgarian institutions toward Bulgaria's accession into the Schengen area without border control.

The National Assembly voted to increase the budget of the National Health Insurance Fund (NZOK) with further BGN 100 million.

The update of the NZOK's budget for 2014 was approved by the members of Parliament without debates at a second reading.