Vehicle registration plate

Close to 1,000 old cars that are no longer suitable for driving, are rotting on the streets of Sofia. This contributes to the already heavy traffic in the capital.

All cars that don't have up-to-date registration plates and that have not undergone technical inspections over the past two years are considered to be no longer used.

As of Wednesday, drivers who have had their permits or license plates confiscated by police for minor offenses can reclaim them so they can vote in the upcoming general elections.

This does not apply to drivers who have committed serious offenses, such as driving under the influence, speeding, running a red light or driving an uninsured vehicle.

Motorists who had their license plates or driving permits revoked up until Tuesday for minor infringements such as illegal parking can request that they be returned ahead of Sunday's general elections.

The decision to facilitate voters who need to travel to cast their ballot was announced on Tuesday by the Public Order Ministry. It will go into effect on Wednesday.

A truck with Bulgarian license plates overturned on the Egnatia Highway, near the junction for Thessaloniki, early on Wednesday, shedding large quantities of hospital supplies including chemicals onto the road surface.

The truck driver, who lost control of his vehicle under circumstances that remained unclear, was hospitalized for treatment to minor injuries.

A TIR truck with Bulgarian registration plates, driven by a Romanian citizen, caused a pileup, killing four and injuring 30 at the Thessaloniki - Veria highway in Greece, reports the Bulgarian National Radio.

More than half of those injured are in serious condition.

According to the reports, the police arrested the Romanian driver as he was trying to escape the accident site.

Migrants prevented from illegally crossing border

BELGRADE -- Ten migrants from Afghanistan and Syria were on Wednesday prevented from crossing into Serbia illegally, it has been announced.

The migrants were discovered on the Preševo border crossing between Serbia and Macedonia, and in the customs terminal in the town of Kruševac.

Pop singer Michalis Hatziyiannis and his accountant were detained on Wednesday on charges of submitting a false statement after the latter allegedly reported to police that the license plates of the singer’s Ferrari had been stolen.

A measure aimed at reducing traffic in downtown Athens, by which cars with license plates ending in an odd number can enter the designated area on odd days of the month and those with even numbers on even days, is set come back into effect on September 15 following its suspension in mid-July.

Hit-and-run driver "likely drove foreign plates car"

BELGRADE -- The driver who last month hit a 25-year-old man with his car and killed him, and then fled the scene, "most likely drove a foreign license plates vehicle."

This was announced on Monday by Interior Minister Nebojša Stefanović.

A scheme designed to reduce traffic in downtown Athens, according to which cars with license plates ending in an odd number can enter the designated area on odd days and cars with even numbers on even days, was lifted on Friday and is to remain out of force until the end of August.