Bulgaria

The government appears to have abandoned its attempt to divert half of second-pillar pension contributions after a brief but sharp public reaction. Having retreated on pensions, the ruling coalition found its fiscal discipline elsewhere, confirming that military salaries will be frozen throughout next year.

Bulgaria has joined several European neighbors in enacting a 'right to be forgotten' for former cancer patients. Under the new law, insurers and lenders must ignore a person’s medical history 10 years after they have finished treatment. It is a rare moment of legislative consensus in a week otherwise defined by a low-turnout presidency and a row over the future of the commission tasked with opening communist-era secret police files.

The first Stryker vehicles have arrived in the country, part of a $1.4 billion modernization of the armed forces. The hardware is more reliable than the local infrastructure: an accident in Sofia left an entire quarter of the capital without power for several hours, while rising gas prices have led food producers to warn that some products will be pulled from shelves.