MPs decide to reduce the maximum highway speed limit
Reducing the speed limit on motorways from 140 km/h to 130 km/h, measuring the average traffic speed through the toll cameras, compulsory companions for 17-year-old drivers who apply for a category B driving license, enhanced CCTV observation by municipal cameras to monitor for offenses and fines going straight into the budget of the municipality where they are committed.
These are part of the raft of amendments to the Road Traffic Act, which were adopted at first reading in Parliament on Friday. MPs rushed through work on a total of six bills after the serious crash near Telish in the Lukovit region in which 12-year-old Siyana Popova died last week. In the middle of the week, all of them were passed unanimously by the relevant parliamentary committee with the clarification that the texts would be refined between the first and second reading. This was also stated today by all parliamentary groups.
Bulgaria attends "coalition of the willing" meeting in Belgium
Bulgaria took part in the meeting of the so-called coalition of the willing on Ukraine in the NATO headquarters in Brussels today. According to an official announcement by the Bulgarian defense ministry, Deputy Defense Minister Radostin Iliev represented the country. Ministers from more than 30 countries are taking part in the forum.
The two-day meeting was initiated by UK Secretary of State for Defence John Healey and French Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecornu within the so-called "coalition of the willing." On the first day, the defense ministers discussed "the cessation of hostilities in Ukraine in the context of the establishment of a stable and lasting peace with all the security guarantees to be given to Ukraine, including guarantees for the security of Europe." Paris and London are working on the idea of deploying a contingent of European troops to contribute to Ukraine's security against future Russian attacks if a ceasefire is achieved.
Burgas airport suicide bomber's remains returned to Lebanon
Bulgarian authorities are repatriating the remains of the suicide bomber who killed six people at Burgas Airport - to Lebanon, AFP reported, citing a well-informed source. He said the family of Mohammad Hassan al-Husseini - who blew himself up at the Sarafovo airport on July 18, 2012 - had hired a lawyer to arrange the repatriation. The AFP source claims that the repatriation was agreed last year, during the war between Israel and Hezbollah.
The 2012 Sarafovo explosion killed five Israeli tourists and their bus driver, Mustafa Koosov. The European Union subsequently declared the armed wing of Hezbollah a terrorist organization.
A Bulgarian court handed down life sentences in absentia to two terrorists of Lebanese origin, Meliad Farah and Hassan el-Haj Hassan.
MPs decide to reduce the maximum highway speed limit
Reducing the speed limit on motorways from 140 km/h to 130 km/h, measuring the average traffic speed through the toll cameras, compulsory companions for 17-year-old drivers who apply for a category B driving license, enhanced CCTV observation by municipal cameras to monitor for offenses and fines going straight into the budget of the municipality where they are committed.
