Sofia - Bulgarian dairy farmers have blocked major roads in the east of the country in a further call for higher state subsidies, Bulgarian state radio reported on Thursday.

Milk producers set up a blockade on the main road between the capital Sofia and the port of Varna on the Black Sea, to press for higher subsidies of 0.20 lewa (ten euro cents) per litre of milk, to apply retroactively from April 2008.

Subsidies previously paid to farmers were less than the European Union average.

The government in Sofia said at the beginning of August that it would set aside 30 million euros to subsidize farmers, but any such move would be dependent on EU approval.

Sofia  - The transport ministers of Bulgaria and Romania met in the Bulgarian town of Ruse Monday for discussions on building a further two bridges over the Danube.

The two bridges being discussed by Bulgaria's Petar Mutafchiev and Romania's Ludovic Orban would be built following the planned 2010 completion of two already-planned bridges in around the Bulgarian town of Vidin and Romania's Calafat, the Bulgaria's BTA news agency reported.

Sofia - Bulgaria will seek to rely on its own surplus budget after the European Union cut off almost 500 million euros in aid to the country over Sofia's shortcomings to halt corruption, local media reported Monday.

The Socialist-led coalition which also includes the liberal NMS and the ethnic-Turkish dominated MRF decided at a weekend meeting in the south-western ski resort of Bansko to compensate the cancelled EU funds from the budget which currently shows a balance 3.8 billion lev (1.9 billion euros), local media reported.

A new working group was tasked to control all Bulgarian authorities responsible for payments from Brussels, Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev said after the meeting.

Sofia - Bulgaria's parliament Friday approved a gas pipeline deal with Russia over the objections of the centre-right opposition, which accused the government of putting national security at risk.

The deal, signed in January during a visit by then Russian President Vladimir Putin, includes a 50-per-cent stake for Bulgaria in the operator of the planned South Stream pipeline.

Approval came on a vote of 140-47, carried by Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev's ex-communist Socialist Party's governing majority.

Opposition parties charged that the government had failed to examine the project's economic benefits, making it a risk to the country.

Sofia - The arrest of former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karazic is "a relief for Europe," the head of Bulgaria's parliamentary foreign affairs committee said Tuesday.

The move would also accelerate the integration of Serbia, Bosnia- Herzegovina and Montenegro into European structures, Solomon Passi told the Bulgarian news agency BETA.

"Serbia and Bosnia have been resurrected for a new life in Europe, said Passi, a former foreign minister, adding that the arrest would "help overcome the legacy of the past" on the Balkans.

Sofia - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Bulgaria from the Czech Republic Wednesday for a brief visit to discuss bilateral ties with the Balkan country's leadership, official sourc