Ilian Vassilev

Former Bulgarian diplomat Iliyan Vassilev shared his views on the potential outcomes of the upcoming U.S. election, predicting a scenario in which pro-Russian and pro-oligarchic groups in Bulgaria will celebrate a victory for Donald Trump. According to Vassilev, these groups are hoping for Trump's influence to shift the outcome of the Ukraine conflict in favor of Putin.

In a detailed analysis of Bulgaria's European elections, Politico sheds light on the prominent role of Delyan Peevski, a sanctioned tycoon and party leader, within the political landscape.

In a latest twist to the unfolding saga of political intrigue, the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office has announced charges against former Interior Ministry Secretary General Zhivko Kotsev, implicating him in an alleged criminal group alongside Petya Bankova, Marin Dimitrov, and Stefan Dimitrov.

President Rumen Radev has already started to constitute the caretaker government, which has emerged as inevitable. Surely the prime minister in it will be Gen. Stefan Yanev. Harvard alumni Assen Vassilev is the second well known person in the future government, Maritsa daily reports.

Russia is expelling the Bulgarian military attache's aide Lieutenant-Colonel Mitko Borisov in retaliation for the expulsion of a Russian diplomat from Sofia. A note to this effect was handed to Bulgaria's ambassador in Moscow Atanas Krastin, who was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry on Monday.

Prime Minister Boyko Borisov held a telephone conversation with Bulgaria's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Russian Federation Boyko Kotsev.

The two have discussed the Scripal case and the reactions in Russia, the European Union and the international community.

Moscow's reaction to the formation of an ad-hoc committee in Bulgaria's parliament to look into alleged interference of Russia and Turkey into Bulgaria's internal affairs is "a disregard for good manners", the Foreign Ministry in Sofia has said.

Pipes purchased for the abandoned South Stream project are "enough" to lay the first and part of the second line of IGTI Poseidon, Gazprom's newest venture possibly involving Bulgaria, a Russian daily has claimed.

Vedomosti quotes a source close to Gazprom as saying two legs, 16 billion cubic meters yearly each, could possibly "be built to Turkley... and to Bulgaria".

European Parliament President Martin Schulz has said he is to block access of Russia's envoy to the EU Vladimir Chizhov to his institution.

Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov and Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova will take part in the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) 2015, news sources say.