site.btaMedia Review: May 10

POLITICS 

The topic featured in all print and digital media platforms on Wednesday was the possibilities for government formation. The theme split into three main highlights - the announcement of the prime minister designate of the first parliamentary power GERB-UDF, President Rumen Radev’s handing of the first government forming mandate, scheduled for May 15, and the possibilities for government formation with the first mandate, to be handed to GERB-UDF. GERB leader Boyko Borissov announced Tuesday that GERB’s prime minister designate will be presented in the National Assembly on Wednesday, as decided by the GERB Executive Commission. Also on Tuesday, Radev announced May 15 as the date when he will be handing GERB-UDF the first government forming mandate after the April 2 parliamentary elections.

Duma covers the topic by quoting an interview with Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) MP Kristian Vigenin, who says that GERB-UDF has been stalling Parliament’s work and the formation of a regular government for far too long by holding “dead-end talks with everybody”. According to him, the talks between GERB-UDF and the second power in Parliament Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) are a form of political outbidding. He is of the opinion that “the most stable for the country and the most sense making thing” is for the two leading parties to work together and for his party BSP to be in opposition. 

24 Chasa quote Borissov describing his party’s designate for prime minister and conclude three possible nominations – EU Commissioner Mariya Gabriel, and two other “right-wing” men working in EU institutions. The daily had a photo of Gabriel on its front page. 

Trud has a photo of Gabriel standing before an EU flag and the main headline reads that Trud’s political analysts have come to the conclusion that she will be Borissov’s choice of Prime Minister.

Former Minister of Environment Emil Dimitrov told Nova TV that Mariya Gabriel has spent the last 20 years abroad, which is the reason she knows little about the current affairs here. Dimitrov proceeded to call her "Kiril Petkov in a skirt". According to the former minister, there is a chance that Gabriel could make a good Prime Minister, as long as the political entities in Bulgaria take her seriously. Still, he shared that a better scenario would be to have GERB leader Boyko Borissov govern as Prime Minister with support from the Bulgarian Socialist Party and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF).

PROSECUTOR GENERAL VS. HIS OWN DEPUTY

A commentary in mediapool.bg looks into the deeper meaning of a rift that has appeared in recent days between Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev and his deputy Borislav Sarafov, who also heads the National Investigative Service. The commentary says that the Prosecutor General "is torn between suspicions of a staged assault and public discontent, and his deputy has disowned him three times in four days". "Ivan Geshev fled all the way across the ocean [to the US] to meet with the Jewish lobby, but what exactly he expect to get there in terms of his shaky position in Bulgaria, is a mystery. The clash between Geshev and the head of the National Investigation Service, Borislav Sarafov, gave the public a rare glimpse into the inviolable inner court of the most important institutions in the country. And the view is not pretty. Just a dozen days ago, the prosecution office looked like a powerful and monolithic structure. Despite all its failures and antics, Geshev stood firmly in place. Now the feeling is that what all the protesters [in 2020] failed to do - remove him from office - will be done by the political and business entourage that most strongly supported him - and by his deputy Sarafov," the article says.

It points out that, as a matter of fact, Geshev can step down from his post only if he chooses to do so. Otherwise, this should be done by a decision of the Supreme Judicial Council but it has repeatedly shown that it would never do that.

The author pays attention to what happened in Parliament on May 5. After Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev smashed, point by point, the assertion that an assassination attempt had been carried out against Geshev on May 1, GERB leader Boyko Borissov took the floor and said: "We thank the government ministers who came to Parliament. Especially Demerdzhiev. The information he shared with us, is shocking, at least for us in the GERB-UDF group." There are at least two news-worthy aspects in this remark: first, it is the first time Borissov finds a reason to speak in Parliament since he became MP, and second, he finds something shocking, the commentary says. It also points out that "the silence of the most staunch defenders of the Prosecutor General, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, who generally do not allow a word to be spoken against Geshev, is telling".

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In a Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) interview on Tuesday, Sarafov said: "The time may have come to personally tell the Prosecutor General that there are some wrongs that need to be righted. The prosecution service has gone into politics just as politics has gone into the prosecution service. The prosecution service needs to change the way it speaks to the public and how it looks, needs to leave the Parliament building and the Roma neighbourhoods, and go back to the court rooms. The prosecution service needs to leave a lot of other places." It appears that by "prosecution service" Sarafov means "the Prosecutor General", or at least the mentioning of the Roma neighbourhoods is certainly a reference to visits Geshev has made in Roma neighbourhoods.

In the same interview, Sarafov said that he is considering asking the Supreme Judicial Council to replace his deputy in the National Investigative Service, Yassen Todorov. "His media appearances reflect his own views and have not been coordinated with me or the National Investigative Service," he said.

Sarafov's plan to ask that Todorov be replaced is picked up and reported in the Wednesday papers.

24 Chasa writes in a headline that Sarafov "is not going to resign but is considering asking that his deputy Todorov be removed". He is also quoted as saying that he is not afraid to discuss his criticism with the Prosecutor General personally because "there is freedom of expression in the prosecution service". 

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Also on the BNR, Andrey Yankoulov, who is an expert with the Anti-Corruption Fund and was proposed for Interior Minister in a possible government lineup by the Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria alliance, said that the frictions between Geshev and Sarafov might turn out to be a storm in a teacup – but it might just as well be a very real conflict between the two. He says three important aspects in Sarafov's latest statement regarding the May 1 blast and Geshev's behaviour. First, Sarafov accused Geshev of going into "the political terrain". Second, he blamed him for manipulating the public by implying that his family was with him in the car when the blast occurred on May 1. Third, he accused the Prosecutor General of interfering with the investigation of the blast by securing access to the crime scene for "a mysterious Israeli expert". 

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24 Chasa has a two-page story entitled "Assaults on Judges and Layers before Geshev's". A third of the spread is taken by a large photo of Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev in formal dress.

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Trud carries a commentary ("For a Prosecutor's Hide") on the May 1 explosion and its implications, by constitutional law professor Natalia Kisselova. She dwells there on what it means to be a public figure, what privileges and risks it carries, and what it means for their families, and on the crime picture in Bulgaria. She says: "The hysteria that was created in the early hours after the explosion was unnecessary and out of place. Instead of helping clarify what had happened, the people who spoke did harm. Instead of helping to clarify the cause-effect connections in the explosion, it added fuel to the arguments against the Prosecutor General personally." She further said that the May 1 explosion showed why it is important that the officials should only disclose facts to the public: whether and how many people have been hurt, what damage has been caused, whether anybody has been arrested and what legal procedures, if any, have been opened. "Any other behavior could have unpredictable consequences," she says.

ECONOMY 

24 Chasa has an article reviewing the main highlights from a Tuesday discussion on the role of organized civil society in the process of Bulgaria's accession to the euro area, organized by the Economic and Social Council (ESC), and held in the Granite Hall of the Council of Ministers. The review includes an interview with ESC president Zornitsa Rusinova. According to her, Bulgaria only has to make “a tiny step ahead” in order to enter the euro area. She highlighted the benefits of the euro changeover and urged for more optimism on the matter.  

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In an interview for Nova TV's morning show, Caretaker Minister of Economy and Industry Nikola Stoyanov reported that the inflation rate in March was 14%, down from 18.7% in September 2022. Stoyanov's expectations are to have single-digit inflation in June or July, which is to shrink further to rates between 5 and 7% by the end of the year. He pointed to the containment of gas and fuel prices as one of the current government's biggest successes. Stoyanov said, however, that the country needs a regular government, as the caretaker cabinet is unable to produce long-term policies, which leads to insecurity and lack of stability.

SOCIETY

24 Chasa features an interview with freelance journalist Nikolay Krastev, who worked for BNR in Sofia and as a correspondent in Belgrade for nine years, and in Moscow for two years until 2017. Krastev comments on the recent mass shootings that happened in Serbia. He says that aggression among the youth is a huge problem and Serbian society is traumatized by the recent events. He notes that Serbians also blame violent reality TV formats for the mass killings.

HOME AFFAIRS

Telegraph's frontpage reports that the raid conducted by the Ministry of Interior on a nightclub in Plovdiv, South Central Bulgaria, may have been unlawful. Legal expert Lyudmil Rangelov told the daily that the raid's goal may have been to discredit the club's owner or to drive away the club's clientele to its competitors. Rangelov said that people should inquire who the owner of the club is, what the revenue of the club is and who the club's competitors may be. Bulgarian Association of Catering Establishments President Richard Alibegov said that industry representatives are preparing protests to be held on Friday against the unlawful raid. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Interior asserted that the raid was entirely within the bounds of the law, as there were reports of drug deals going on at the establishment.

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The main headline on the front page of Duma reads that the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) has honoured Victory Day on Tuesday, May 9. According to the subtitle, the “socialists demanded the resignation of [Sofia Mayor] Yordanka Fandakova for allowing a neo-Nazi demonstration”. The daily writes that Victory Day and Europe Day were celebrated in Bulgaria with many events in the capital and the country. The Sofia organization of socialists, together with BSP leader Korneliya Ninova and the party’s leadership, MPs from Sofia and municipal councillors took part in “the solemn rally-concert” in front of the Soviet Army Monument in the capital. Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Bulgaria Eleonora Mitrofanova, representatives of the Embassy and the Russophile the Russian diplomatic community in Bulgaria were also present at the event. The news piece continues to say that “a small but noisy group of young people with neo-Nazi views, raised tension in front of the Monument”. The daily calls the counter-rally a sabotage, authorized Fandakova, who for the first time banned the traditional “Immortal Regiment” march in the capital. The front-page headline is surrounded by two large photos taken during the rally, both featuring Russian flags in the centre with Bulgarian flags observed in the background. 

Trud and 24 Chasa have on their front page headlines following the events surrounding the people involved in a deadly car crash that occurred on Monday and killed two people, a young man and a young woman, in Sofia. Trud has a picture of the young man’s father and quotes him urging for action so that Bulgaria’s youth stops dying on the roads. 24 Chasa has photos of the fathers of both young people that died on Monday and highlights that they could have survived only if they had been two metres ahead at the moment of the crash.

HEALTHCARE

General practitioner Georgi Mindov told Telegraph that there is an influenza type B epidemic going on. Infected people can suffer from fever for a week, which is why flu tests and consultation with a medical expert are important. Mindov reported that a common practice among the sick is to self-prescribe antibiotics, which is likely to lead to deterioration of the patients' condition.

The medical expert said that the number of coronavirus cases in Bulgaria is dropping, while the country has nearly 96,000 vaccine doses stockpiled.