Free Republic

Dozens of Bulgarian schools were closed for a second day on March 28 following bomb threats with investigators saying they were looking into potential Russia-linked terror actions meant to disrupt the upcoming snap parliamentary elections scheduled for April 2. Most of the schools targeted in the threats -- first made by e-mail and phone on March 27 -- were located in the capital, Sofia, and the Black Sea port cities of Varna and Burgas. The threats prompted the disruption of classes and the evacuation of students.

After Austria and Hungary, Bulgaria has also joined the minority group of European Union countries that refuse to send weapons to Ukraine, news and opinion portal Mandiner reports [link at URL]. Bulgaria has declared that it will not take part in the EU’s joint ammunition purchase program, nor will it supply fighter jets or tanks to Ukraine, Euronews reports. Bulgarian President Rumen Radev is under enormous pressure from opposition parties, but he has said he stands by his position. ... Although many of its Western allies accuse Hungary of siding with Russia in the war based on its firm stance...

Western European nations are beginning to wake up to the fact that they’re doing much of the sacrificing for the war effort in Ukraine while the United States is reaping all the benefits in terms of natural gas sales and the export of more and more weapons as the war drags on. But with severe food and energy shortages, along with a cold winter, looming, Europeans may decide they don’t want to suffer any more to feed U.S. profiteering. Jimmy talks about dawn breaking across Europe over what the Ukraine War has REALLY been about. ...

KYIV, Ukraine—Winter is approaching on the Ukrainian steppe. As temperatures fall, waves of chilling rain follow, dissolving roads and fields, turning them to mud that mires men and equipment. Then comes the deep freeze and snow, hardening the ground but making it tougher to fight. Armies on both sides of the war in Ukraine are girding for the unforgiving weather and shorter days of winter, which will affect the health and morale of troops, diminish the effectiveness of weapons and intelligence-gathering sensors and multiply the logistical difficulties of keeping soldiers in the field. “Land warfare is generally very difficult. Winter...

"Poland and Bulgaria’s foreign ministries are recommending all of their citizens leave Russia." "Speculating here, but couple this with all the nuclear saber rattling, and I wouldn’t be shocked to find out that Russia has been caught preparing to use a tactical nuke in Ukraine." https://twitter.com/Angry_Staffer/status/1574848223004565504

Vladimir Putin has approved a 31-page "humanitarian policy" which says Russia should "protect, safeguard and advance the traditions and ideals of the Russian World". The foreign policy concept of a "Russian World" is a notion that hardliners have used to justify intervening abroad to support Russian speakers, such as in parts of Ukraine. It means that the idea is now enshrined in official policy, though it was presented as a soft power strategy. The new policy stated that Moscow should further deepen its ties with the self-styled Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic - two breakaway entities in...

I’m in Bulgaria. It’s the poorest country in the European Union—and the most corrupt. My friends get livid recounting how agency A was supposed to build some bridge, and then just siphoned off tax money to a mafioso and the bridge is never built. But I took the Sofia subway today. It’s clean. It’s on time. The intercoms work perfectly and the announcements come in Bulgarian followed by slightly accented English. To prevent people from falling or being pushed onto the tracks, in busy stations a light metal barrier descends when the train approaches and leaves. To help prevent fare...

The leaders of Greece and Bulgaria on Friday marked the completion of a new pipeline that will supply natural gas from Azerbaijan to Bulgaria, whose vital supply of Russian gas was cut off in April amid the fallout over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stressed the importance of the new link as an alternative supply line for Bulgaria, as neighboring Greece jockeys to become a regional energy transport hub. Greece is also building a liquefied natural gas terminal off the northeastern port of Alexandroupolis, near Komotini, which Mitsotakis said would in the future provide additional gas...

Despite supposedly being a form of crypto, OneCoin didn’t actually have a payment system or a blockchain model, the crucial technology that underpins cryptocurrencies — thus rendering OneCoin’s tokens essentially worthless. Ignatova and the company’s founders are accused of knowing as much. (In a statement to the BBC in 2019, OneCoin denied any wrongdoing.) OneCoin relied on its users to bring in more participants by offering a slew of rewards, commissions and “trading packages” at different price points, according to federal investigators. In the end, the network of investors spanned over a hundred countries. More than 3 million people are...

It is one thing to hate Greeks or Turks, for want of example, and quite a different thing to hate Jews. Likewise, to hate this country or that one is not akin to hating Israel. The faultless logic of a felon explains all. Asked why he robbed banks Willie Sutton explained, “That’s where the money is.” Well, Israel is where six million Jews are, and Iran is not the only power that, day and night, aches to wipe them off the face of the earth. Clearly there’s more to hating Israel than meets the eye. By “more” I mean a...

Europe may need to ration its energy supply if efficiency doesn't improve and demand doesn't cool, the International Energy Agency's executive director warned. If winter weather is harsh and drags on while demand in China ramps up as COVID lockdowns continue easing, then rationing is on the table unless energy efficiency starts improving quickly, Faith Birol told the Financial Times. "I wouldn't exclude the rationing of natural gas in Europe, starting from the large industry facilities," he said. Birol suggested better efficiency, renewable sources, and "making the most of existing" energy supplies would help ensure energy security, rather than starting...

Bulgaria says it’s “done enough” for Ukraine and has no plans to send heavy weapons, a Tuesday statement from Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov indicated. “We’ll do what we have promised to do and there’s no need to reignite the debate every two weeks,” Petkov said. “We’ve supported the incoming refugees, we have sent all kinds of humanitarian aid, we have also been involved with repairing Ukraine’s heavy weapons and we’re in line with all sanctions against Russia.”Via Glasove.com: there have been recent allegations that Bulgarian weapons have appeared in the conflict, but Bulgaria’s government says otherwise.The pushback from Bulgaria’s...

Russia this week stopped the flow of natural gas to Poland and Bulgaria. The two former Soviet satellite states have defied the Kremlin by supporting Ukraine in its efforts to repel the Russian assault. And in some places, the effects of the gas shut-off are already being felt. Wilson Dizard has more in this report. ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Western weaponry pouring into Ukraine helped blunt Russia’s initial offensive and seems certain to play a central role in the approaching, potentially decisive, battle for Ukraine’s contested Donbas region. Yet the Russian military is making little headway halting what has become a historic arms express. The U.S. numbers alone are mounting: more than 12,000 weapons designed to defeat armored vehicles, some 1,400 shoulder-fired Stinger missiles to shoot down aircraft and more than 50 million rounds of ammunition, among many other things. Dozens of other nations are adding to the totals. The Biden administration is preparing yet...

Bacho Kiro Cave. (Nikolay Doychinov/AFP via Getty Images) Last year, a genetic analysis of bone fragments representing our earliest known presence in Europe raised a few questions over the steps modern humans took to conquer every corner of the modern world. Whoever the remains belonged to, their family background was more entwined with the East Asian populations of their day than with today's Europeans, hinting at a far more convoluted migration for our species than previously thought. Now, researchers from the Universities of Padova and Bologna in Italy have proposed what they think might be the simplest explanation for the...

Romania and the United States have signed an agreement that would establish the first U.S. military bases in an Eastern European country from the former Soviet bloc. The United States already has the rights to a base in the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan, and is in the process of vacating one in neighboring Uzbekistan. With the United States already possessing a military presence in much of the world, what does it want with even more foreign bases? Washington, 7 December 2005 (RFE/RL) -- Romanian President Traian Basescu seemed as pleased to be hosting the bases as the Americans are...

(Joshua Paladino, Headline USA) The White House has revoked its support for the Eastern Mediterranean pipeline, a 1,900km project that will transport natural gas from an Israeli-owned offshore drilling site to Egypt, Greece, and Cyprus, The Gatestone Institute reported. The Biden administration discussed the decision with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan but apparently did not include the pipeline’s main beneficiaries—Israel, Greece, Egypt or Cyprus—in the talks. The White House said the EastMed pipeline will harm its “climate goals” and escalate tensions in the region without serving viable economic interests, Keep Talking Greece reported. Erdoğan has opposed the EastMed pipeline because...

Biden's decision — reportedly coordinated with Turkey but reached without consulting Israel, Greece or Cyprus, the main countries involved in the project — undercuts three of the strongest American allies in the Mediterranean region.EastMed's cancellation — variously described as a "disastrous decision," a "strategic mistake" and an act of "appeasement" of Erdoğan — represents a major geopolitical victory for the Turkish strongman.The EastMed pipeline has been in the works for more than a decade. The Israel-Greece-Cyprus project — joined by Bulgaria, Hungary, North Macedonia, Romania and Serbia — has long been seen as a way to diversify natural gas supplies...

MOSCOW, Jan 21 (Reuters) - The security guarantees that Russia seeks from the West include provisions requiring NATO forces to leave Romania and Bulgaria, the Russian foreign ministry said on Friday.

That stark warning followed the release of a “draft treaty” proposal from Moscow that Russian officials portray as a resolution to the standoff, which has intensified as Russian forces amass near Ukraine's borders. Yet the Russian document demands not only that NATO promise never to admit Ukraine to the alliance, but it also goes so far as to demand the removal of U.S. and Western European forces from Central and Eastern Europe — a rollback that would amount to a practical breakup of NATO. “It’s not even valid to consider it,” a Baltic official told the Washington Examiner on condition...