Bulgaria's Disaster Management Ministry said on January 31 it was accepting applications to fill 12 vacancies for the 112 emergency hotline operators in the southwestern part of the country.

The operators would have to answer calls from capital Sofia, its immediate surroundings, but also the towns of Pernik, Blagoevgrad and Kyustendil.

Successful applicants will have completed at least their secondary education, speak a European foreign language, possess superior communication, computer and organisational skills, as well as the ability to work under pressure, the ministry said in a statement.

Applicants that speak a second foreign language or the language of one of Bulgaria's neighbouring countries would be considered an advantage, the ministry added.

Bulgaria's Government allocated 48 million leva from its budget surplus for 2007 to speed up the implementation of the emergency hotline call centres. Last year, the European Commission opened infringement procedures against Bulgaria for the delay in setting up the system.

The ministry has pledged to begin work on regional centres in Rousse, Bourgas, Varna, Montana and Plovdiv, the ministry said earlier.