Bulgaria to test civil defence sirens, BG-Alert system on April 1
Tests of Bulgaria’s civil defence siren and voice announcement system and of the BG-Alert system, which sends warnings to mobile devices, will be conducted on April 1 from 11am to 11.30am, according to the Interior Ministry.
It has been a tradition in Bulgaria for several years to test the civil defence siren system twice annually, on April 1 and October 1, although on rare occasions, tests have been cancelled – such as after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine – to avoid causing panic.
On April 1 2025, the siren and voice announcement system will be tested in Sofia, Bourgas, Varna, Kurdzhali, Montana, Pazardzhik, Pleven, Plovdiv, Rousse, Smolyan, Vratsa and Stara Zagora.
An audio signal will also be broadcast in municipalities in the districts of Vidin, Pernik and Yambol, as well as in the settlements in the 30-kilometre zone around the Kozloduy nuclear power station.
The BG-Alert system will distribute a test message throughout the country, containing text in Bulgarian and English.
The test messages can be managed from the settings of mobile devices. To receive them, users need to activate the “Test Signals” channel on their device.
More information about the BG-Alert system may be found, in Bulgarian, at www.bg-alert.bg.
In order for a message to be received, the devices must support this system, not be in airplane mode, the phone must have coverage from the network of the mobile operator used, as well as be in the territory of the broadcast message.
In autumn 2024, the test of the BG-Alert system first was postponed, and then was not much of a success when most subscribers to mobile phone services did not receive the test message.
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