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Sofia, February 7 (BTA)

NATO - BULGARIA - UKRAINE - RUSSIA

The tension between Russia and NATO, and Bulgaria's standing amidst all of it, once dominates the press.

Capital runs a commentary by Dimitar Bechev of Carnegie Europe. It can't be said that the new government had much luck - after the energy crisis and yet another pandemic peak, a completely new risk emerged - the risk of war. The deployment of additional NATO forces along the Alliance's eastern flank in response to the escalating crisis between Russia and Ukraine could turn out to be the biggest political challenge for the new incumbents. The accumulation of at least 100,000 Russian troops near the Ukrainian border and the very real possibility that things may lead to a military conflict in a few weeks, have forced NATO to increase its combat readiness and deploy additional and larger military formations near the zone of possible combat action with the goal of gaining situational awareness and deterring possible further escalation. All of this poses a serious political problem for the ruling quadruple coalition in Sofia, because the supporters of at least one of the parties in it - the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), have a clearly Russophile profile. The Socialists have no way of officially supporting the deployment of military formations from other countries to Bulgaria, given this could somehow be targeting Moscow's policies in the region. They [the Socialists], however, could take a relatively neutral stance and not destabilize the government if talk about this issue is kept to a minimum and no overly insensitive statements are made. That is why the new Prime Minister and his ministers are obviously seeking some type of flexible and veiled formula to describe the process of accepting NATO reinforcements, as this was presented as reinforcing a purely Bulgarian battalion combat formation with modern military capabilities, which the Bulgarian Army lacks - for example the Spanish Eurofighter jets, Dutch F-35 stealth jets, more intense joint trainings with the US Army, etc. The crisis could turn out to become an unexpected opportunity for the Bulgarian military. Defence Minister Stefan Yanev, for example, clearly tried to speed up the rearmament of the Land Forces, including via direct military technical assistance from NATO. Thus, the deployment of allied forces in Bulgaria could be presented as something that would benefit national security, while not turning Bulgaria into a target for Russia, which is one of the main points used by the pro-Russian propaganda.

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Darik: Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba urged people on Sunday to ignore the "apocalyptic predictions" about an imminent Russian invasion, adding that his country is strong and enjoys unprecedented international support, Reuters wrote. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said a week ago Ukraine was not a sinking Titanic and accused Washington and media of fuelling panic that weighed on the economy when there were "no tanks in the streets". "Today, Ukraine has a strong army, unprecedented international support and Ukrainians faith in their country," Kuleba said in a tweet. "The enemy should be afraid of us, not us of them." A day earlier two U.S. officials said that Russia may be ready for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine by mid-February as it had in place about 70 per cent of the combat power it believed it would need and was sending more battalion tactical groups to the border.

The topic of Russia's readiness for a full-scale invasion of its western neighbour is covered by Dnevnik and Mediapool as well.

Dnevnik contributes by quoting The Washington Post as saying that Russia seems to be close to completing preparations for a large-scale invasion of Ukraine, which could leave up to 50,000 civilians dead or wounded, topple the government in Kyiv over the course of a couple of days and cause a humanitarian crisis with up to 5,000,000 refugees, fleeing the ensuing chaos. These are the updated assessments of the US Army and intelligence, which were presented to senators as well as European partners over the last few days. Russia's deputy Ambassador to the UN Dmitry Polyanskiy is quoted as saying in a tweet that "Madness and scaremongering continues... what if we would say that the US could seize London in a week and cause 300,000 civilian deaths?".

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"If Anyone is to Bring Instability into NATO - Here's Bulgaria," reads Trud's headline. The newspaper quotes former president Rossen Plevneliev (2012-2017) as telling Bulgarian National TV that Defence Minister Stefan Yanev and President Rumen Radev's statements are scandalous. The fact that there are efforts aimed towards de-escalation and dialogue in the NATO-Russia crisis is good. Bulgaria's role in this process is crucial, the former president says. Plevneliev gives as an example the events from the Congress of Berlin (a diplomatic conference held in the summer of 1879 to reorganize the states in the Balkans following the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, which Russia won against the Ottoman Empire). Who else, if not Bulgaria, should be drawing its conclusions, because some great powers played the "spheres of influence" game... If there's a nation that should have learned its lesson, it is Bulgaria. It's the same story nowadays. If someone will bring instability, discord into NATO - here's Bulgaria," Plevneliev is quoted as saying. According to the former head of State, Bulgaria's statements are ridiculous, since this country claims it does not want additional support, as it "will form some made-up battalion group.. Here's Bulgaria's role as part of the efforts to destabilize NATO," he adds. Plevneliev believes that the Defence Minister's and the President's statements "are scandalous, lead to division and weaken our position. Bulgaria is saying it does not need NATO - that's treason... Are we not at least a little bit interested in cooperating with those who are better than us," Plevneliev asks. Bulgaria's only national interest is to run towards the eurozone and the heart of NATO and the EU, as everything else will lead to poverty, he argues.

ENERGY

Monitor writes about a new scandal emerging around the State-owned natural gas supplier Bulgargaz. Two former ministers - Rumen Ovcharov (of energy) and Rumen Petkov (of interior) announced independently of each other a deal worth 60,000 MWh of natural gas for Romania, transacted by Bulgargaz and facilitated by an intermediary. The sale, according to both ex-ministers, was completed in less than 3 seconds, with several companies participating. Ovcharov even went as far as to imply that natural gas might have been pumped out of the Chiren storage facility.  GERB leader Boyko Borissov also commented the topic. He urged the security services to act and probe the case. This lead to an internal probe at Bulgargaz, which is supposed to establish the types of tenders conducted and the quantities of natural gas involved, as well as who awarded the procedures. Meanwhile, it transpired that the company's new leadership has not truly taken over Bulgargaz. No transfer of documents has taken place because, in addition to the sacked leaders, the company's senior management has also left after receiving 170,000 leva in compensations. Meanwhile, the company told bTV that the sold quantities of natural gas amounted to 37,000 MWh for the purpose of improving Bulgargaz's financial standing, given the situation it was found it. The topic was a point of contention between Energy Minister Alexander Nikolov and Bulgargaz's former chief Nikolay Pavlov. The first said that there was a coordinated attack against Bulgaria's national interests, adding that it would be very interesting to find out how within 12 hours, people of the opposition and former ministers have coordinated themselves and are making same statements. Pavlov, in turn, said that Bulgargaz is not "an ant farm", adding that the attack against the company aims to push it away from the market and ensure that all quantities of cheap natural gas are transferred to the regulated market. Commenting the expiring agreement with Gazprom, he said that negotiations must conclude at the end of May at the latest.

Capital and Mediapool also cover the topic.

SOCIETY - BULGARIAN FEMALE PHYSICIST - RECOGNITION

Dnevnik runs an interview with Prof. Ana Proykova, a Bulgaran physicist and mathematician who was included in Forbes' 50 Over 50: EMEA 2022 list, recognizing women over 50 years of age who are founders, business and political leaders, scientists and vanguards leading the way throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa. She has contributed significantly to the field of physics and is a driving force of Sofia Tech Park's creation. The biggest problem Proykova faces in her work in Bulgaria is deadlines not being observed. She is a firm believer that women's career growth requires support from the public. The internationally recognized achievements of Bulgarian scientists are a cause for national pride, although science knows no borders, she notes. According to Proykova, the lack of women in the field of engineering is a serious problem. The other Bulgarian name on the list is that of International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva, who is widely known, which is why Dnevnik dedicated the story to the lesser known Prof. Proykova, whom Forbes presents as a computational physicist and a research professor at the University of Sofia and head of the High Performance Computing Lab at the Sofia Tech Park. Her work is described as being highly cited and that she has worked with top global universities. According to Forbes, Proykova is a champion for women in STEM, she is co-founding the Bulgarian Center for Women in Technology, chairing the European Physical Society's equal opportunity committee and serving as president of the Bulgarian Association of University Women.

COVID-19

24 Chassa quotes former head of Sofia's Pirogov Emergency Hospital and current GERM MP, Asen Baltov, as telling NOVA TV that it is time for the COVID restrictions to be lifted. Maybe this will happen after April 1, he says. Commenting the so-called green certificate, Baltov argues that it is not working and should be scrapped. "The green certificate is not working in its current shape and form. We should be talking about a vaccination certificate, which is why we're attacking the green certificate. This Omicron [variant] is dangerous. It does not matter if one has antibodies or is vaccinated, as 12 per cent of those in hospital are vaccinated...while we're issuing a green certificate after the first [COVID-19 vaccine] dose," he says.

Duma quotes mathematician Prof. Nikolay Vitanov as saying that Bulgaria has still not come out of the Omicron wave's peak. According to him, the situation is not out of control and hospitals are not overcrowded. He admits, however, that there is high mortality, which he attributes to people's stubbornness. Prof. Vitanov believes Bulgaria could have done better. "We did not do better - the mortality rate has exceeded 33,500, while the registered [COVID-19] cases are approaching 1 million". 

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