Vice-PM and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva has hosted Ambassador of Italy to Sofia Stefano Baldi on the occasion of him concluding his term in Bulgaria. The two senior officials discussed the excellent state of bilateral relations as well as challenges facing European countries in relation to the coronavirus pandemic.

Powerful fortification walls rise over the southern foothills of the Balkan Mountain Range near ​​the village of Anevo, close to the town of Sopot. Known as Anevsko Kale, this fortress perches on a stone hill with a height of 958 metres. It is among the best preserved strongholds from the period of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom. The place itself has remained almost intact due to the extremely difficult approach to it.

On 1 January, Bulgaria will get Azeri natural gas. The dream of achieving full diversification will come true in a month. This was announced by Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, who made another inspection of the gas connection with Greece.

Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva on Thursday paid a visit to Israel, her first one there in her current official capacity, Zaharieva's Ministry said in a press release.

Nestled in a hilly area at the foot of Mount Pogled, near the Struma River, the village of Vukovo in the Kyustendil region used to be a thriving, well developed spiritual centre. The name is thought to have been derived from “vakavo” - a church place. Evidence of that are the numerous Christian temples in the area, some of which are rather well conserved.

“Covid-19 is an awful weapon that has been unleashed upon the world. I call it a weapon because it has taken a lot of lives and caused economic and financial damage,” PM Boyko Borissov posted on Facebook, clarifying that these words were part of his address to the Paris Peace Forum, which has been moved to mostly online this year.

The town of Gabrovo is situated at the northern foothills of central Stara Planina Mountain, in the valley of the Yantra River. The city is notable for its beautiful nature, National Revival spirit and unique architecture as well as modern museums and galleries. But one of the biggest attractions the town prides itself for is the Balkan region's one-of-a-kind Interactive Museum of Industry, which was opened in 2014.

Bulgaria is not yet ready to give greenlight to North Macedonia for starting EU membership negotiations. Our country continues to hold firmly to three conditions which to be included in the negotiating framework before it has been approved on 10 November at the General Affairs Council by the Foreign Affairs Ministers.

During an online working meeting of the government on Monday, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov called for better mobilisation in coping with the pandemic. He said, as quoted by the government information service, that each minister should be on the frontline in their area of work “unfailingly, so that the government, together with the Bulgarian people, act together like a fist against the pandemic”.

In the heart of the plain situated east of the town of Asenovgrad, in southern Bulgaria, is the location of the Monastery St Nedelya, better known as the Arapovski Monastery. It was established in 1856 near the healing holy spring outside the village of Zlatovrah, which was once named Arapovo. This is the only entirely new Bulgarian cloister built during the Ottoman rule, as it was not a restoration of a previous one.