Bulgarian PM Survives Third No-confidence Vote

Bulgarian Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski survived a no-confidence vote in parliament on Wednesday, the third such motion against his cabinet put forward by the conservative opposition.

The motion, which failed in a vote of 116 to 93, claimed Oresharski has failed to reform the country's security sector and tackle an influx of over 11,000 refugees from Syria and elsewhere, among other criticisms.

The failed move was the third against the embattled premier who has clung to power despite recurring street demonstrations calling for his resignation which started shortly after he took office last May.

Disillusioned voters have accused Oresharski of being too dependent on behind-the-scenes oligarchic interests following a controversial, even though later reversed, appointment of a media mogul as top security chief.

After the vote Oresharski told parliament that "the security system is far from perfect" and he pledged to work on improving it.

In a move to appease voters, Interior Minister Tsvetlin Yovchev dispatched on Monday dozens of gendarmerie officers to 12 regions in the country's poverty-stricken northwest that have been worst hit by thefts and burglaries.

Oresharski's predecessor resigned a year ago after mass anti-poverty protests.