New Bulgarian Magnitsky Law
The government wants to prepare a new sanction law similar to the Magnitsky law which sanctions those deemed to be human rights offenders or those involved in significant corruption, freezes their assets, and bans them from entering the US.
The goal is to protect the institutions in case of international sanctions against Bulgarian citizens or companies, said Deputy Prime Minister Assen Vassilev after a meeting of the Council of Ministers. He denied that there was already a proposed law in the pipeline, stating that two or three options are under review.
Government position on N. Macedonia unchanged as Coalition Council meets
The coalition partners composing the current government (BSP, TISP and DB) will participate in a leadership coalition council tonight to discuss the current state of negotiations between Bulgaria and Northern Macedonia. They are believed to still hold their current positions on the accession of Northern Macedonia to the EU, albeit with minor nuanced changes.
Prime Minister Kiril Petkov insisted on convening a meeting last week with the idea of discussing a report from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on possible bilateral progress. President Rumen Radev, however, has not confirmed his attendance.
Trips made by Bulgarians increased by 50% y-y in January-March
In the first three months of the year, and despite the ongoing national epidemic at the time, more than 700,000 Bulgarians undertook some form of travel. Most of them - 87.9%, journeyed only within Bulgaria, 10.8% - only abroad, and 1.3% traveled both in the country and abroad. Compared to the first quarter of 2021, the total number of Bulgarian tourists increased by 53.9%, according to the NSI.
New Bulgarian Magnitsky Law
The government wants to prepare a new sanction law similar to the Magnitsky law which sanctions those deemed to be human rights offenders or those involved in significant corruption, freezes their assets, and bans them from entering the US.
