Bulgaria – Eye on Islamism

Europe turning blind eye to Hamas and Hezbollah networks in its territory, experts say Analysts say terror groups operate largely unchecked, running charities, lobbying public opinion and recruiting supporters — and the legal means to stop them are scant

April 12, 2024 Gianluca Pacchiani

(Times of Israel) A stash of weapons was found hidden under a pine tree in southern Bulgaria last week. The arms were linked to four suspected Hamas members arrested in Germany and the Netherlands in December on suspicion of preparing an attack […]

German authorities uncover Hamas weapons cache in Bulgaria

April 4, 2024 Unlisted Author

(Novinite) German investigators have unearthed a suspected Hamas weapons stockpile in Bulgaria, as reported by Die Zeit. The discovery, confirmed by Deutsche Welle, Spiegel, and ARD, came after the arrest of Hamas-affiliated individuals in mid-December. A mobile phone seized during the arrest […]

Bulgaria arrests EU citizen allegedly linked to Hamas

November 24, 2023 Unlisted Author

(Sofia Globe) A 37-year-old citizen of an EU country has been arrested in Bulgaria’s capital city Sofia on the basis of a European arrest warrant issued by Austria, which says he is involved in criminal activity linked to the Hamas terrorist organisation. […]

11 years after attack on Israelis in Burgas, terrorists remain free Five Israeli tourists and their Bulgarian driver were killed in the bombing at Burgas Airport.

July 18, 2023 Unlisted Author

(JNS) Eleven years after the terrorist attack on a busload of Israeli vacationers in Burgas, Bulgaria, the two main suspects remain on Interpol’s most wanted list. Five Israeli tourists and their Bulgarian driver were killed and 35 others were wounded in the […]

Seven jailed in Belgium terrorism probe: prosecutor

March 29, 2023 Unlisted Author

(AFP) Seven people were imprisoned in Belgium Wednesday in two investigations into “possible terrorist attacks,” the federal prosecutor’s office said. The seven, five Belgians as well as a Turk and a Bulgarian, were charged with participation in the activities of a terrorist […]

Bulgarian supreme court confirms life sentences for Bourgas Airport terrorist attack

March 7, 2023 Unlisted Author

(Sofia Globe) Bulgaria’s Supreme Court of Cassation has confirmed at final instance the life sentences without parole for Meliad Farah and Hassan El Hajj Hassan for their role in the July 2012 terrorist attack at Bourgas Airport in which five Israelis and […]

Bulgaria: 43 migrants found in van days after 18 found dead

February 20, 2023 Unlisted Author

(AP) Bulgarian police discovered 43 migrants, including ten children, hidden in a van in the west of the country, officials said Monday, just days after authorities found the bodies of 18 migrants concealed in a lumber truck. Prosecutor Natalia Nikolova said the […]

Bulgaria charges six over migrants found dead in truck

February 18, 2023 Vessela Sergueva

(AFP) Bulgarian prosecutors indicted six people on Saturday over the deaths of 18 Afghans who suffocated in a truck later left abandoned outside the capital Sofia. The discovery Friday was the deadliest incident linked to people smuggling in Bulgaria as the country […]

Bulgaria finds 18 dead migrants suffocated in truck

February 17, 2023 Nikolay Doychinov and Vessela Sergueva

(AFP) Bulgarian authorities on Friday found the bodies of 18 people who suffocated in a truck smuggling them through the country. Bulgaria’s deadliest such incident comes as the Balkan nation struggles with an increase in illicit border crossings. The truck was transporting […]

Bulgaria accused of brutal border pushbacks

February 8, 2023 Vessela Sergueva and Rossen Bossev

(AFP) Bulgaria faces mounting accusations that it is abusing people trying to cross its border with Turkey, with asylum seekers saying they have been pushed back, locked up, stripped and beaten. The EU member serves as a gateway into the bloc and […]

EU preps plan to quell migrant influx from the Balkans Route has been growing in popularity of late.

November 24, 2022 Jacopo Barigazzi

(Politico) The EU is working on a proposal to reduce a rising influx of migrants entering the bloc through the Western Balkans, Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson told POLITICO on Thursday. The Western Balkan migration route has become a growing concern for EU […]

Bulgarian police detain 141 Afghan migrants near Burgas

August 28, 2022 Unlisted Author

(Radio Free Europe) Bulgarian authorities said police detained 141 migrants attempting to enter the country without permission, all of them believed to be men originating in Afghanistan. Police on August 28 said they would boost security along the Eastern European EU nation’s […]

Two Bulgarian police officers killed by bus carrying migrants

August 25, 2022 Unlisted Author

(AFP) Two police officers were killed Thursday as they tried to stop a bus carrying migrants in Bulgaria, authorities said, as the government made a renewed promise to crack down on illegal migration. The bus, which was carrying 47 passengers, including children, […]

Tenth anniversary of terrorist attack on Israelis at Bulgaria’s Bourgas Airport

July 18, 2022 Unlisted Author

(Sofia Globe) A solemn commemoration was held at Bourgas Airport on July 18 to mark the 10th anniversary of a terrorist attack in which five Israelis and a Bulgarian died and close to 40 were seriously injured. In a statement ahead of […]

Men linked to terror group arrested in Norway, Bulgaria

June 1, 2022 Jan M. Olsen

(AP) Two men have been arrested in Norway and Bulgaria, respectively, for having “expressed support” for Al-Qaida through “internet-based activities,” Norway’s domestic security agency said Wednesday. One suspect was arrested in Oslo and the other — identified as a Norwegian student — […]

Rights group: Bulgaria uses police dogs in migrant pushbacks

May 26, 2022 Unlisted Author

(AP) An international rights group said Thursday that Bulgarian authorities are attacking Afghan and other asylum-seekers, using police dogs and other violence to illegally push them back over the border into Turkey. Human Rights Watch said that the migrants reported being beaten, […]

Bulgaria approves transfer of terrorism convict to Belgium

November 22, 2021 Unlisted Author

(AFP) A Bulgarian court on Monday authorised the transfer of a man convicted of terrorism to Belgium, where he was sentenced in absentia to 20 years in prison in 2015. Yassine Lachiri was arrested in Bulgaria on November 10 after entering the […]

Belgium terrorism convict arrested in Bulgaria

November 11, 2021 Unlisted Author

(AFP) A man convicted of terrorism in Belgium has been detained as he entered Bulgaria through its southeastern border with Turkey, prosecutors announced Thursday. Border police and state security agents intercepted the man on Wednesday in a special operation, the prosecution said […]

Bulgaria sends troops to tackle migrant influx from Turkey

November 1, 2021 Unlisted Author

(AFP) Bulgaria on Monday deployed 350 soldiers to the border with Turkey to help police cope with the growing influx of migrants, the defence minister announced. “Soldiers arrived at the Bulgarian-Turkish border since today to back up the border police,” Georgi Panayotov […]

Bulgarian official admitted Hezbollah involvement in bus bombing A Bulgarian prosecutor provided evidence to the court handling Hezbollah’s involvement in the Burgas bus bombing.

June 8, 2021 Yonah Jeremy Bob

(Jerusalem Post) A Bulgarian prosecutor provided detailed evidence to the Bulgarian court handling Hezbollah’s involvement in the 2012 Burgas bus bombing which killed five Israelis and their Bulgarian-Muslim bus driver, but the court refused to accept it, the Jerusalem Post has learned. […]

Refugees win rare victory in landmark Serbia pushback ruling

April 18, 2021 Jovana Gec

(AP) Hamid Ahmadi still can feel the cold of the February night when Serbian police left him and two dozen other refugees in a forest. Crammed into a police van, the refugees from Afghanistan thought they were headed to an asylum-seekers’ camp […]

Duo get life sentences in Bulgaria over 2012 Israeli bus bombing

September 21, 2020 Diana Simeonova

(AFP) A Bulgarian court on Monday sentenced two Lebanese men in their absence to life in prison over a deadly 2012 bus bomb attack on Israeli tourists at the country’s Burgas airport. The attack in July 2012 killed five Israelis including a […]

Bulgarian of Syrian descent arrested in Bourgas for terrorism

July 2, 2020 Unlisted Author

(Novinite) A Bulgarian national of Syrian descent as well as 15 of his associates were arrested on July 1 for suspected terrorism. The operation took place in Bulgaria’s coastal city of Bourgas and was conducted jointly by the State Agency for National […]

Bulgaria floods Evros River to prevent migrants storming Greek borders

March 10, 2020 Tasos Kokkinidis

(Greek Reporter) At the request of Greece, Bulgaria opened an Evros River dam located on its territory on Monday in order to cause intentional flooding and make it more difficult for migrants amassed at the Greek-Turkish border to cross the river, according […]

Bulgarian imam jailed for Islamic State support

December 10, 2019 Unlisted Author

(AFP) A Bulgarian imam was jailed for eight and a half years on Tuesday for spreading the ideas of the Islamic State group and propagating hatred and war on religious grounds. The regional court in the southern city of Pazardzhik also handed […]

Bulgarian teen arrested, police suspect possible bomb attack

June 8, 2019 Unlisted Author

(AP) A 16-year-old was arrested after Bulgarian police found explosive devices, an Islamic State group flag and other items in the boy’s home that could have been used in a mass attack, a prosecutor said Saturday. Police in Bulgaria’s second-biggest city, Plovdiv, […]

Bulgaria makes terror financing arrests across the country

January 18, 2019 Unlisted Author

(AP) Police in Bulgaria says they have busted a suspected terrorism financing ring and detained 43 people in raids across the country. Deputy Chief Prosecutor Ivan Geshev told reporters on Friday that one of the suspects was a Syrian citizen permanently residing […]

U.N. members adopt global migration pact rejected by U.S. and others

December 10, 2018 Ulf Laessing and Andreas Rinke

(Reuters) U.N. members on Monday adopted a deal aimed at improving the way [the] world copes with rising migration, but almost 30 countries stayed away from the ceremony in Morocco. The pact, meant to foster cooperation on migration, was agreed in July […]

Bulgaria revises draft law on religions after objections from faith groups

November 16, 2018 Unlisted Author

(Sofia Globe) Responding to objections from various faiths, parties in Bulgaria’s Parliament are revising amendments to the Religious Denomination Act before the bill is put to a second reading. This emerged after a meeting between two parliamentary groups, Prime Minister Boiko Borissov’s […]