Conventional Long Form of Name: Republic of Bulgaria Capital City(ies): Sofia Type of Government: Parliamentary Democracy Date of Independence: March 3rd, 1878; September 22nd, 1908 National Holiday: Liberation Day, March 3rd Chief of State: President Rosen PLEVNELIEV (since January 22nd, 2012); Vice President Margarita Popova (since January 22nd, 2012) Head of Government: Prime Minister Plamen ORESHARSKI (since May 29th, 2013); Deputy Prime Ministers Zinaida ZLATANOVA (since May 29th, 2013) & Tsvetlin YOVCHEV (since June 2013) Executive Branch/Powers: Councils of Ministers nominated by prime minister and elected by the National Assembly. President and vice-president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 23 and 30 October 2011 (next to be held in 2016); chairman of the Council of Ministers (prime minister) elected by the National Assembly; deputy prime ministers nominated by the prime minister and elected by the National Assembly. Legislative Branch/Powers: unicameral National Assembly or Narodno Sabranie (240 seats; member elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) Judicial Branch/Powers: Supreme Court of Cassation (consists of a chairman and approximately 72 judges organized into penal, civil, and commercial colleges); Supreme Administrative Court (organized in 2 colleges with various panels of 5 judges each); Constitutional Court (consists in 12 justices); note - Constitutional Court resides outside the Judiciary judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court of Cassation and Supreme Administrative judges elected by the Supreme Judicial Council or SJC (consists of 25 members with extensive legal experience) and appointed by the president and the SJC; justices appointed for 9-year-terms with renewal of four justices every 3 years subordinate courts: appeals courts; regional and district courts; administrative courts; courts martial. Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal Bulgaria's Ambassador to the U.S.: Ambassador Elena POPTODOROVA (since August 4th, 2010) Location of Bulgaria's Embassy in the U.S.: 1621 NW 22nd ST, Washington, DC 20008 Location of Consulates in the U.S.: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York U.S. Ambassador to Bulgaria: Ambassador Marcie B. RIES (since September 5th, 2012) Location of U.S. embassy in Bulgaria: 16 Kozyak ST, Sofia, 1408 Location of U.S. Consulates in Bulgaria: N/A Bulgaria's Representative to the UN: Stefan Tafrov Symbolism of Flag: White: Peace & Honesty; Red: Hardiness, Bravery, Strength, & Valour; Green: Hope, Joy, and Love. National Symbol(s): Lion International Disputes: None Quantity of Refugees inside Bulgaria and Countries of Origin of Refugees: N/A Current Human Trafficking Issues relating to Bulgaria: N/A Illicit Drug Trafficking/Use:Major European transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin and, to a lesser degree, South American cocaine for the European market; limited producer of precursor chemicals; vulnerable to money laundering because of corruption organized crime; some money laundering of drug-related proceeds through financial institutions (2008)
Chief of State, President Rosen PLEVNELIEV
Head of Government, Prime Minister Plamen ORESHARKI