Sat, Jul 04 2009

Last two regional 112 emergency number centres open

Tue, Sep 30 2008 14:35 CET byElitsa Grancharova 336 Views

The Ministry of Emergency Situations said on September 30 that the last two remaining regional centres for the Europe-wide emergency number 112 had gone into operation.

With the two centres in Varna and Kurdjali operational, the country had met European Union requirements regarding the country-wide introduction of the general European emergency number, a ministry spokesperson told The Sofia Echo.

The Emergency Situation Ministry said that the idea to introduce the universal emergency number in Bulgaria was launched in 2000. It was a part of Bulgaria's Accession treaty to the EU under the Telecommunications and Information Technologies chapter.

The hotline had to be operational when Bulgaria joined the EU on January 1 2007, but has been repeatedly delayed, prompting the European Commission to launch infringement procedures against Bulgaria on the issue.

In a September 18 decision, the European Commission granted Bulgaria a further three months to introduce the emergency phone number, uniting calls for natural disasters, catastrophes, wrecks, terrorist attacks and emergency medical aid.

Calls to number 112 are currently handled by six regional centres in Sofia, Montana, Bourgas, Rousse, Varna and Kurdjali.

Write comment

Name: Comment:
Send your comment

More in this category

Bulgaria busts vote-buying operation

In a blow against a problem that has been plaguing Bulgaria’s elections, State Agency for National Security and Interior Ministry say several people in a ‘major criminal organisation’ have been arrested for vote-buying, on the eve of the July 5 vote.

Borissov’s party, socialists both make slight gains – new polls

Barometer Info survey on July 3 2009, just ahead of the eve of Bulgaria’s national parliamentary elections, gives GERB 27.05 per cent and Sergei Stanishev’s Coalition for Bulgaria 19.09 per cent.

Rousse Shipyards sack workers following strike

The exact number of people sacked from duty out of the 600 who refused to go to work on Monday is undisclosed, although reports claim that as of June 3 at least four people were told they were surplus to requirements.

Policy Brief: Bulgaria’s July 5 parliamentary elections

Open your mind and face the unknown: the 2009 general elections in Bulgaria.

Ban on the sale of liquor takes effect on election day July 5

City halls have the power to decide the time frame of the ban on alcohol in stores, bars and restaurants

© 2000-2009, Sofia Echo Media Ltd.

Web Design by RIZN

The news and information content on this website is provided by our editorial team and is copyrighted. Any unauthorised reproduction or use of it is strictly forbidden. Reproduction of this website's content is permitted only with prior written permission from the Editor-in-Chief, should be propertly acredited and provide an active link back to our site. Comments posted by the website's visitors are independent of the editorial materials and do not represent the views of sofiaecho.com. Sofia Echo Media cannot be held responsible for the statements contained in visitor comments. The percentаge change in the shares' prices are based on the price of the last transaction of the current session compared to the price of the last transaction of the previous session. Bulgarian Stock Exchange data is not real-time, but updated every 15 minutes, and should not be used as a basis for decisions about buying or selling stock options.