A total of 21 parties and seven coalitions have signed up for the 14 November elections so far, the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) announced at a briefing on Thursday. The only party that was refused registration is exiled gambling mogul Vasil Bozhkov's "Bulgarian Summer," which had failed to present a bank account for campaign expenses, CEC said.
Sofia University rector Anastas Gerdjikov to run for President with GERB's backing
According to sources from the former ruling party of Prime Minister Boyko Borissov cited by the Bulgarian National Radio and the National TV channel BNT, the head of the largest Bulgarian university will face off incumbent Head of State Rumen Radev in the 14 November Presidential vote. Mr Gerdjikov did not respond to calls or make a statement at the time of this article's publication. He was born in 1963 and is a professor of Classics at the university. Mr Gerdjikov has held the rectorship since 2015. Before that he was deputy rector of the institution and was deputy Minister of Education in the 2001-2003 period.
Unemployment slightly up on an annual basis: NSI
The National Statistics Institute (NSI) said on Thursday that the unemployment rate for August 2021 remains the same as July's - 5.6 percent, but is 0.5 percent higher than in August 2020. This amounts to 182,000 unemployed, NSI announced. The youth unemployment indicator continues growing, however, with 16.7 percent of under-25s remaining jobless - compared to 14.4 percent in August of last year. The overall unemployment rate in Bulgaria remains below EU average for the month (6.8 percent).
Greek PM rejects Bulgaria's hardline stance on N. Macedonian EU accession
The Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis said he opposes Bulgaria's resistance to Skopje's bid to join the EU. "We don't support Bulgaria. We think it's an unnecessary complication.We need to offer the Western Balkans a very clear European perspective. We need to openly talk about enlargement.the Western Balkans belong in Europe," Mr Mitsotakis said during a discussion at the Athens Democracy Forum on Thursday, quoted by Ekathimerini newspaper.
A total of 21 parties and seven coalitions have signed up for the 14 November elections so far, the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) announced at a briefing on Thursday. The only party that was refused registration is exiled gambling mogul Vasil Bozhkov's "Bulgarian Summer," which had failed to present a bank account for campaign expenses, CEC said.
