National Assembly

Parties in row over "consulting firms" hired by state

BELGRADE -- Deputies from the opposition DS party on Tuesday asked the government to provide information about hiring former British PM Tony Blair "and other consultants."

On the other hand, the ruling SNS party wanted to know about the lobbying firms the DS hired abroad while they were in power.

Google commemorated the Bulgarian Liberation Day on March 3, with a celebratory doodle.

The image features fireworks crossing the night sky in the colors of the Bulgarian national flag - red, white and green.

BELGRADE - A ceremony with the playing of the national anthem and the Serbian Armed Forces Honor Guard lined up at the entrance to the Serbian parliament building marked the start of the First Sitting of the First Regular Session of the Serbian parliament on Tuesday, during which MPs should consider a total of 16 bills.

National Assembly starts spring session with ceremony

BELGRADE -- The spring session of the Serbian National Assembly started in Belgrade on Tuesday to the sound of the country's national anthem.

Members of the Serbian Army (VS) Guard took part in the ceremony at the start of the sitting.

Bulgaria's Tarnovo Constitution, adopted by the Grand National Assembly on April 16, 1879, will be shown for the first time in an exhibition at the President's Office on Dondukov Street 2 in Sofia.

The Bulgarian Parliament approved on Wednesday the ratification of the contract for the issue of new debt of BGN 16 B.

The ratification was approved by 161 MPs, with 50 MPs voting against, while 12 abstained, BGNES news agency reports.

BELGRADE - The Social Democratic Party (SDS) launched on Friday an online poll asking the respondents if they would support a parliamentary procedure to dismiss Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic who, as they claim, violated the Constitution by publicly putting pressure on Serbia's war crimes prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic.

Joint session of Serbian and Slovenian cabinets

BELGRADE -- The governments of Serbia and Slovenia will hold a joint session in Ljubljana on Friday, the Serbian government has announced.

After the session, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic will confer with Slovenian President Borut Pahor.

BELGRADE - The motion to launch the procedure to dismiss Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic cannot be put on the agenda of the parliament's session because it has not been put forward by a minimum of one third of MPs, Parliament Speaker Maja Gojkovic said on Thursday.

South Korean President Park Geun-Hye finally got a new prime minister on her third attempt Feb. 16, despite claims by opposition lawmakers that her nominee was morally unfit for the office.
      
Lee Wan-Koo, a senior legislator from Park's ruling Saenuri party, was approved in parliament by 148 votes to 128 after a tortuous nomination process.