European Parliamant votes for Bulgaria's Schengen admission this year
Members of the European Parliament have voted to approve the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area by the end of 2023.
In a resolution adopted on Wednesday with 526 votes in favor, 57 votes against and 42 abstentions, the parliament stressed that the two countries had already met the necessary requirements for Schengen admission.
In a statement MEPs said they regretted the council's decision of 8 December 2022 to reject their membership "without providing a legal justification related to the accession criteria".
Bulgaria wants to drill for gas alongside OMV and Total
The state is in negotiations to buy up to 20 percent share of company Total E&P Bulgaria, which drills oil and gas reserves in the Khan Asparuh block in the Black Sea.
MP's from GERB, DPS and TSP submitted to the parliament on Wednesday a resolution obliging the Minister of Energy to negotiate with the French company Total and the Austrian OMV over the acquisition.
MP Delyan Dobrev, who submitted the decision, expects the draft resolution to be supported by WCC-DB. He again cited data presented by representatives of Total in the energy commission that the estimates for the discovery of gas deposits are between 210 and 510 billion cubic meters.
Huge data leak
A massive data leak showing the complete set of personal data of 2.25 million people was sent to the mail of Kapital and other media by hackers using the pseudonym "Emil Kulev". He claims that they were obtained through a breach in the system of the largest insurance company - by premium income in Bulgaria - Lev Ins.
The database contains three names, social security number, ID card number, address and, in some cases, a mobile number. The data likely includes former Lev Ins clients, and perhaps deceased individuals as well, as the official personal identity numbers - known as EGNs - go back to 1914. The archives sent to the media are dated December 2022 and January 2023.
Hackers claim that they can provide further information and even more financial information regarding possible legal breaches by Levi Ins.
European Parliamant votes for Bulgaria's Schengen admission this year
Members of the European Parliament have voted to approve the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area by the end of 2023.
