#bulgaria news

[sofiaflorina2021]

Welcome Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen Area! With the entry of both of you, the number of Schengen Area members has now increased from 27 to 29 countries! 🇧🇬🇷🇴🇪🇺

[hetalianhistorian]

New official Gangsta reference sheet for Hungary, Netherlands, Austria, Bulgaria, and Romania!!

Source link: https://twitter.com/hima_kaz/status/1793476681803743601

From Himaruya's post: "This is the design drawing of today's member. The tattoos on their faces are from the traditional folk costumes of Bulgaria and Romania, and each motif seems to have various meanings (Himaruya)."

[blueiscoool]

Archaeologists Unearth Remarkably Preserved Marble Statue of Hermes in Bulgaria

Archaeologists led by Prof. Dr. Ludmil Vagalinski have unearthed a remarkably well-preserved marble statue in the ancient city of Heraclea Sintika, near Petrich, Bulgaria. The discovery, announced by the municipality of Petrich, was found within the underground sewer known as "Cloaca Maxima". Efforts are underway to delicately excavate the statue without causing damage due to its exceptional state of preservation.

Standing over two meters tall, the statue is believed to depict Hermes, a prominent deity in the region during ancient times. Prof. Dr. Vagalinski, speaking to "Archaeologia Bulgarica," expressed cautious excitement about the find, noting its significance not only as the best-preserved statue discovered in Heraclea Sintika but also in all of Bulgaria. He suggests that the statue was likely buried by city inhabitants following a major earthquake in the 4th century AD, possibly to safeguard their religious heritage during the rise of Christianity.

Archaeologia Bulgarica shared updates on the excavation progress via Facebook, revealing that the statue, crafted from a single marble block in the 2nd century AD, remains partially encased in dirt. Archaeologists have noted its resemblance to other depictions of Hermes, placing it within a known iconographic type. Similar statues are rare globally, making this discovery particularly unique for Bulgaria.

Plans are underway to carefully extract the statue from the Cloaca Maxima and transport it to the museum in Petrich, where it will undergo necessary restoration before being displayed alongside other archaeological finds. Prof. Vagalinski emphasized the challenges of preserving the ancient city's structures, especially those located on private property, where permanent conservation measures are limited. He highlighted the unexpected nature of the discovery, which came to light during routine inspections of the canal's condition.

The excavation team, which first uncovered ancient structures in the area six years ago, had placed protective barriers to secure the site. Upon closer examination, marble remnants were noticed, leading to the gradual unveiling of the statue of Hermes. Work on fully exposing and documenting the statue will continue in the coming days, offering new insights into the religious and artistic practices of ancient Heraclea Sintika.

[lindonwald]

national treasure

[gemsofgreece]

You really should know about Storm "Daniel"

Unlike how much all of us Greek blogs notify our tumblr communities about the regular (at this point) arsons wildfires afflicting Greece, we did not say much about the floods the country has been suffering from right now. There was a mention here and there and I even made a joke post as the storm was starting but not a lot of stuff in general. So, I think there's a couple of things you should know and I feel like I could address about it and actually it's not just about Greece. So I believe this could interest a lot of people and it should be something known worldwide.

In the beginning of September there was an alarm about an extreme weather phenomenon forming above the Ionian Sea at the west of mainland Greece. In truth, the phenomenon was not caused by the climate change. It was just a very rare occurence where a high pressure atmosheric system was sandwiched between two currents of low pressure. Low pressure systems are the ones resposible for stormy weather while high pressure systems generally create stable weather. As the low currents encircled the high pressure system, the storm that had started forming became unusually stable for a storm. As a result, the storm moved northeast above Thessaly and other regions of the central part of Greece and... just decided to stay there for an indefinite amount of time. Furthermore, because it's September and the Ionian Sea had warmed up throughout the summer, the medicane (Mediterranean cyclone) gained tropical features as it was forming, pushing its intensity to extremes unknown to this area.

The storm remained above all of central Greece for about 4-5 days but at the meantime it was causing side-storms in neighbouring countries, such as Bulgaria and Turkey. Both countries suffered from floods causing damages and deaths.

Istanbul, Turkey (CNN).

Tsarevo, Bulgaria (CNN).

Four people died in Bulgaria and seven in Turkey.

But like I told you the core of this was exactly on top of Greece's central mainland and islands. So what happened there? I happened to experience this shit first hand. My recollection of it is that it was unlike any other storm I had experienced before. My knowledge on meteorology is not very advanced, however I believe due to the high pressure part, there were actually no winds at all - or they were insignificant, so it wasn't like what you might have in mind as a conventional cyclone. It was a rainstorm but it was like a rainstorm from hell. The crucial part is that in Greece summer violent rainstorms may last for about five minutes but certainly not for five days nonstop. There was no pause, not even for a second. It kept pouring and pouring in indescribable volumes, without decreasing or slowing down, not for a moment. The fourth day it started taking short breaks.

As a person with a phobia of lightnings since childhood, I kept wearing earplugs throughout all these days. For four days, ten seconds did not pass without at least one lightning shrieking exactly on top of our heads. In the end, I am dead serious, I think my lifelong phobia has been cured somewhat due to this extreme exposure that eventually had a numbing effect. I think only the first day there was a record of 7,000 lightnings. I believe there must have been dozens of thousands overall. The lightnings also caused fires but the downpour was so overwhelming no fire could ever stand a chance.

Whether during or after the rains, what I was seeing outside was post-apocalyptic. The only thing missing was the zombies. It really looked like a background from a videogame, including a constantly lit up sky. I was not in danger though people dear to me were. The worst for me was a huge fall in the quality of living but that doesn't matter. The rains caused severe destructions across cities and villages. They caused floods, they broke bridges, they broke a massive number of roads, they made walls collapse, they destroyed springs, they damaged water and electricity outlets entirely, they drowned flocks and flocks of animals, they destroyed mountainous and coastal villages alike, they made cars float and fly over each other and they uprooted houses.

Village in Mount Pelion, Greece.

But that's not the end of it. Four days later, the storm moved southwest towards the Ionian sea, basically to the place of its original formation. It side-swept over Athens in the meantime, flooding the city, but that doesn't mean much since I could cry and Athens would still flood with my tears. Anyway. AFTER the storm left, the floods caused by it started multiplying and expanding. Picture that: a crystal clear sky, a bright sun and your phone screaming state alerts about evacuating your village or town because a lake has launched at you! Here's the thing: Thessaly is a massive plain surrounded by a ring of mountains. Half of those downpours fell right on the lowlands causing floods and destructions the first days. The other half however fell on the mountains, filled the streams heading down and they all met up and filled the lakes and the large river of Thessaly, Pineios and they all basically exploded the next days. Pineios especially exploded both in its western and eastern part, sinking the entirety of Thessaly's plains under water. As a result, floods were actively taking place days after the storm had ended and the weather was good. The phenomena have only started subduing since yesterday.

The overflowing of the river, trapped by the mountains.

Farmers won't be able to work this year and next year is questionable as well. There are huge concerns about various epidemics breaking out as more and more dead animals are found in the waters. Entire villages are under the water. There are estimations that some villages in west Thessaly might have been lost forever and their residents will have to move elsewhere. Sixteen people have died from the rainstorm and the floods.

Actual villages in Karditsa, Greece.

A more longterm danger is that the ground received such an unnatural amount of water that it might have been severely eroded and destablised, making it vulnerable to natural disasters I don't want to utter. Many roads are either broken or bloated and Thessaly has been cut out from communication and transportation with the rest of the country. To this day, there are maps guiding people how to drive from North to South Greece and vice versa by entirely skipping Central Greece! (Hint: they will have to drive through Epirus, aka western Greece.) The first days there was also complete isolation from what was happening in the country and the world and also the very regions we were in as we had no electricity and our only chance was getting a call from somebody being elsewhere and telling us what is going on.

Volos, Greece (CNN)

Many regions have received within 2-4 days 55 times their monthly amount of rain or more than twice the yearly amount. Greek meteorologist Christos Zerefos estimated that such a phenomenon occurs every 300-400 years. Meteorologists were alarmed internationally - with Germans and Americans reportedly saying they hadn't studied such a phenomenon again in their career. Its intensity was record high in the history of Greece and right in the top of Europe's as well. They also agreed that such a phenomenon would be devastating even if it had hit the most advanced and prepared country.

BUT THIS IS NOT THE END. The weakened Daniel seemed to slowly move towards South Italy but it decided to take a turn and headed south towards Libya and Egypt. Quite possibly, as the storm was once again travelling across the warm Mediterranean Sea, it was rejuvenated and gained even more tropical traits. Eventually, the medicane hit Libya with unprecedented force.

The cyclone travelling from Greece to Libya.

The toll it took on Libya is unspeakable. As I am writing this,

More than 5,226 people are killed and more than 10,000 are currently missing.

Like, can you wrap your head around what I am talking about? I don't see this shit being acknowledged enough across the world. I am checking this again and again, to ensure I am reading this correctly.

Daniel has officially become the deadliest medicane on record.

Eastern Libya, from Al Jazeera.

In the meantime, Greeks found opportunities to practice their favourite sport: political infighting. People who weren't even here when hell broke loose say that if this or that was properly done, we would not have problems at all. I even saw an idiotic Greek expat comment how "we got drowned in a little bit of rain". The truth is we should bloody thank our lucky stars and I say this with the entire awareness of half of Thessaly being currently underwater. It is true that Greek governments and people have done so many things badly, like building on top of streams and rivers, changing rivers' natural route, drying up natural lakes and all that shit that guarantees you are going to have massive problems once a serious storm breaks out. Also, the disaster revealed that there was once more a very questionable management of all the money given by the EU for anti-flooding measures after a previous flood (Ianos). Of course, I would be happy if at last we viewed this disaster as an opportunity to improve ourselves and the management of our land, however whatever happened these days wasn't the fault of anyone in particular. On the contrary, A LOT worse could have happened. A lot. Maybe Libya is not an indication because if Greece is not used to such extreme rain phenomena, then Libya is probably ten times less used to them, however we should not forget that this monster was STUCK at least five days over the heartland of Greece. For this alone we should damn be thankful we did not get it any worse and that the land endured in any way and of course now we have to correct old mistakes as well but let's do it united and determined and without wasting time once more in pointless infighting, which in this case might even be unfair. (In fact I think the thing we should blame the state the most about was not making it clear beforehand that this was going to be unprecedented, not just "very severe". They probably didn't want to cause panic and mayhem but still. We should know.) Of course I am not talking about how the state will treat the afflicted regions from now on, which is entirely its responsibility. And we should stand next to Libya. Greece has its wounds to mend but it should absolutely provide support to Libya. We know what this freak phenomenon was like.

I know this text is long but please consider reblogging this. We should know what happens on our planet. Thousands of people are dead from a freak phenomenon devastating regions across lands and seas. Also forgive any mistakes I might have made although I believe the information is correct for the most part. I didn't speak more about Libya because I don't know enough to analyze the situation as much. Perhaps there are ways of supporting the country too. As a last note, this phenomenon was not freakish because of the climate change - it was just a very unusual occurence. However, the - otherwise normal - warmth of the sea did feed and intensify the storm and the climate change might in the future cause these super rare, accidental phenomena to become more frequent.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Mira Lazine at LGBTQ Nation:

The Bulgarian parliament voted to enact a law prohibiting the “propaganda” of “non-traditional” sexual orientation and gender identity in schools last Wednesday. Their vote triggered mass protests and public opposition. The proposed law states, “It is the educational function of the Bulgarian school that such a state institution should not be allowed to promote or incite, in any way, directly or indirectly, ideas and views related to non-traditional sexual orientation and/or identification of gender identity other than that which is biological.” The law, an amendment to the Pre-School and School Education Law, emerged after the 17-member Parliamentary Committee on Education and Science overwhelmingly approved it. The committee’s approval led to a four-hour debate last Wednesday that culminated in the bill passing through parliament. This bill was proposed previously, however, it failed in committee.

Of the 240 parliament members, 159 voted in favor of the first section of the bill, while 22 voted against and 13 abstained. For the section defining “non-traditional sexual orientation,” 135 voted for it, 57 against, and 8 abstained. Members of the more liberal parties were unable to vote for the first section for unknown reasons. The law was especially popular among the increasingly politically dominant pro-Kremlin Revival/Vazrazhdane Party, which was the party to introduce it.

[...] Over 7,000 citizen signatures and nearly 80 non-governmental organizations were sent to the government to plead that Bulgarian President Rumen Radev does not sign this bill. Belgian LGBTQ+ rights organization Forbidden Colors said in a statement, “It is deeply troubling to see Bulgaria adopting tactics from Russia’s anti-human rights playbook. Such actions are not only regressive but are also in direct contradiction to the values of equality and non-discrimination that the European Union stands for.”

A protest was announced the same day in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. Since then, there’s been widespread protests throughout the capital and Varna, a port city. There have also been petitions sent to the Bulgarian government asking them to oppose the measure. The bill defines “non-traditional sexual orientation” as “different from the generally accepted and the concept of emotional, romantic, sexual or sensual attraction between persons of opposites.” Bulgarian news site Clubz, as well as Parliament member Eleonora Belobradova claimed that this section of the bill was actually copy/pasted from the Bulgarian Wikipedia. Additionally, the bill only recognizes “biological sex,” completely writing trans people out of the law and ignoring intersex individuals entirely.

Protests erupt over Bulgarian parliament’s passage of Russia-style Don’t Say Gay or Trans law.

[luderailing]

MORE MORE MOREMORE MORE!!!!!!!!

[hetalia-club]

Hetalia Olympics: 8-9-2024

Medal Events Only:

Rest will be continued with a reblog, so many on this day.

[elizadraws]

Happy New Year, everyone! 🐉🌅 Hope it’s a wonderful one for you and your loved ones.

I couldn't decide which of three sketches to go with, so I finished all of them. They're still kind of sketchy.

[one-time-i-dreamt]

I became the Bulgarian princess who thought she swallowed a glass piano, but somehow remembered who I am IRL enough to be stressed that I was going to miss New York Fashion Week because of it.

[bonksoundeffect]

The born in Eastern Europe curse of knowing you were doomed from the start

[hetalianhistorian]

Chapter 521 is out!!

You can read the full thing here though the Shounen Jump Plus website!

[blueiscoool]

13th Century Gold Coin Found During Dig in Bulgaria

A gold coin (Perpera) from the time of John III Doukas Vatatzes, Emperor of Nicaea 1222 – 1254, was among the first finds discovered during the archaeological season in Cherven, Bulgaria’s Rousse Regional Historical Museum said in a post on September 10.

The find was found at the southern foot of the Intermediate Fortress Wall in the western part of the mediaeval city.

The coin adds new aspects to the knowledge and already established chronology of occupation of the western hill of Cherven, the museum said.

[iveta777]

[totallyhussein-blog]

Charity committed to helping Christians in Syria

An international Catholic charity has assured Syria’s Christian community of its continued support after insurgent groups toppled the country’s government on Sunday, 8th December.

Regina Lynch, executive president at Aid to the Church in Need International said that the organisation has remained in close contact with its project partners in Syria and is continuing to provide emergency aid and other help, while also calling for prayers.

Ms Lynch said: “The fall of the Assad regime and the rebel takeover of Damascus mark a historic moment.

“While religious minorities have largely been respected during this transition, our past experiences remind us how religious freedoms can be severely restricted during times of instability in the region.”

She added: “We call on both the international community and the new authorities in Syria to ensure the protection of the fundamental rights of all religious communities, guaranteeing their freedom of worship, education and their right to live in peace.

“We are grateful that both our numerous project partners and ACN staff are safe and have not suffered any harm. We are in continuous contact with them.”

ACN support in Syria has included emergency aid, medical assistance and food supplies for Christian families.

The charity has also helped with the rebuilding of homes and provided support for pastoral activities and the installation of solar panels for Church buildings and schools to help reduce energy costs amid a crippling financial crisis.

Ms Lynch said: “As a Catholic foundation, we remain dedicated to supporting relief and reconstruction efforts in Syria.

“Our projects will continue to focus on providing essential aid, education, and spiritual support to the most vulnerable Christian minority, while promoting reconciliation and hope.”

She concluded: “We urge all people of goodwill to join in prayer for the people of Syria and to strengthen efforts to ensure that this transition leads to justice, peace, and dignity for all.”