These are some of the top headlines in Bulgarian newspapers on May 14 2008. The Sofia Echo has not verified these stories and cannot vouch for their accuracy.

Politics

- The parties in the ruling coalition collided on the issue of who was to take the blame for the frozen European Union funding under the Phare programme, Dnevnik saily said. Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) blamed Deputy Finance Minister Dimitar Ivanovski, while National Movement for Stability and Progress (NMSP) stood by Ivanovski and his team and would insist that his powers are increased.

- The opposition parties accused the Cabinet of undermining Bulgaria’s EU membership, Dnevnik said. The rightist parties agreed with the idea of Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria for sixth no-confidence motion to bring about snap elections. The grounds for the motion was the new criticism from the European Commission.

Society

- The authorities plan to motive Bulgarian yuppies to return to the country, Standard daily said. The initiative was part of the new state policy for Bulgarians abroad, presented by Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev and Interior Minister Ivailo Kalfin on May 14. The Cabinet plans to make a register of all Bulgarian students abroad. Currently, more than 50 000 Bulgarians study abroad.

Economy

- The EC asked Bulgarian authorities to present by June 16 a list of companies, which had violated the rules for EU funds utilisation, Sega daily said. The names of these companies would be included in the warning system of the EC and would be excluded from current and future projects.