site.btaMedia Review: January 8

POLITICS

24 Chasa reports political tensions arising from the fact that the Defence Ministry did not invite parliamentary group leaders to the traditional blessing of the military colours in Bulgaria on January 6. The article notes that the mistake of the official who did not send the invitations could cost Todor Tagarev his position as a Defence Minister. The daily writes that given the strong reactions of National Assembly Chair Rosen Zhelyazkov, GERB, Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) and BSP, it might be assumed that Tagarev will be gone before the March rotation in the government.

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Telegraph, Trud, and 24 Chasa cover the story regarding President Rumen Radev's challenge of the constitutionality of revisions to the Constitutions that were adopted by Parliament and gazette in the last days of 2023.  

The Bulgarian National Television reported that the President challenges the constitutionality of the provisions giving the right to people with dual citizenship to be MPs and ministers, the possibility to set qualified majorities by law for the election of the leadership of state bodies, the procedure for appointing a caretaker government, and provisions regulating the term of various bodies in the legislature. The President also challenges the procedure Parliament followed as it amended the Constitution. "The Constitution can be amended either by a large political majority and quickly (without a time limit between the three separate voting days), or with a smaller political majority but slowly (with a minimum time limit of two months between the different voting days)," the President argues, adding that in this case the revisions were adopted hastily with the minimum required majority and without substantive discussion.

Trud features an article on the possibility of people with dual citizenship entering the government as early as the cabinet rotation in March. The daily quotes constitutional scholars and lawyers who point out that under the current constitution this is entirely possible. The story highlights that two appeals against the constitutional amendments are expected to be submitted to the Constitutional Court - the first by Radev on January 8, and the second by Vazrazhdane and There Is Such a People (TISP) several days later.

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24 Chasa freatures an interview with Justice Minister Atanas Slavov on the constitutional amendments and the new Judicial System Act, which is currently being developed. "They are even better than the ones originally tabled," he says regarding the amendments in the judiciary. "The one adopted as the final version is better in several respects - both in terms of the interaction between the two new councils, the Supreme Judicial Council and the Supreme Prosecutorial Council, and in terms of the mandates of the three senior leaders in the judiciary," he points out. Slavov also notes that an act on lobbying is currently being developed. "We have already developed a concept for the regulation of lobbying and it has been announced for public discussion. It has been developed with representatives of the civil sector, institutions, the academic community and will be adopted next month," he adds.

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Duma's main story focuses on a statement by Socialist leader Korneliya Ninova on Bulgaria's accession to Schengen. "If the government is not committed to taking back refugees, as they claim, why is it urgently proposing changes to the Asylum and Refugee Act", the daily quotes her as saying.

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On bTV's morning show, former MRF MP Mehmed Dikme commented on MRF leader Ahmed Dogan's proposal to change the party's structures and put two co-leaders at its helm. Dogan recommended to the MRF members and supporters a formula which envisages sharing the MRF top leadership between the party's floor leader Delyan Peevski and MP Dzhevdet Chakarov. "Good morning Mr Dogan. He seems to have woken up and realized what has happened to the party," Dikme reacted. The party has long been a business organization, not a political one, he noted. According to Dikme, the DPS honorary chairman is beginning to fear Peevski. "Peevski now has more influence than Dogan in regions such as Blagoevgrad, Pazardzhik, Stara Zagora, and after the last elections - in Northern Bulgaria. This is dangerous for Dogan himself. Until now he could control the party chairpersons, but he will hardly be able to do so with Peevski", he stressed.

ECONOMY

Trud features an interview with Bulgarian Association of Software Companies (BASSCOM) Chair Dobroslav Dimitrov. "Bulgaria was left without its advantage of lower taxes, and big companies will not have a single reason to invest here," he warns. "Even the IT sector in the country no longer registers the enviable growth rates of past years, so it is more than strange political talk about expected growth in our economy in 2024," he adds. The BASSCOM Chair points out that Germany ended 2023 with negative economic growth and it is Bulgaria's largest trading partner. "85% of our trade is with Western Europe, and the metrics there are not good," he says. Dimitrov also comments on the European regulations on artificial intelligence. "It gives a critical advantage to those who develop it, and every one of us will use it as we use electricity. Europe should not tie its hands with regulations on artificial intelligence right now, because neither the US nor China does," he argues. "When nuclear weapons were developed, there were also ethical dilemmas, and not a few of them, but that did not stop anyone developing them and it took 20 years to create regulation for nuclear weapons. It did not happen in 1945. Figuratively speaking, whoever controls artificial intelligence will control the world," Dimitrov explains.

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Nova Television's morning show featured a discussion on Bulgaria's economic forecast for 2024 with economists Adrian Nikolov and Shteryo Nozharov. Nikolov predicted that the inflation rate in the country will be 4-5% vs. 2-25% in Europe, while Nozharov forecasted 3.8-4.8% in Bulgaria vs. about 2.7% in the eurozone. "The Bulgarian National Bank cut the key interest rate by one basis point, indicating that inflation is not expected to be out of control," Nozharov pointed out. According to him, the country is likely to be accepted into the eurozone from January 1, 2025. "Inflation will not be a problem. There is a possibility that administratively it will fall to 3.8%," he said.

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Telegraph reports that typical Bulgarian foods such as chutneys, sausages, sauerkraut and especially spices are among the most sought-after goods by Bulgarians living and working abroad, citing shop owners abroad. Many Bulgarians shop for all-Bulgarian goods because they do not like the taste of what is available in American stores, the article states. 

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Trud features an article on the fuel prices in Bulgaria. In a month, petrol in the country has fallen by BGN 0.12 and diesel by BGN 0.13, with the price of basic fuels expected to fall further, the daily writes. It quotes the chairs of Bulgarian Petroleum and Gas Association and Association of Bulgarian Traders, Producers, Importers and Transporters of Fuels as saying that fuel prices will not rise back to BGN 3 per litre in the coming months.

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24 Chasa has a story on Bulgaira's tourism landscape for 2023, pointing out that cities and villages beyond the usual popular destinations have attracted a large proportion of Bulgarian tourists to the country. The most profitable destination this summer has been Sunny Beach, with the hotels in this resort earning BGN 373 million between May and September. In winter, the leader in profits are the hoteliers in Bansko, but the summer revenues of Sunny Beach exceed the total revenues of all winter resorts put together. The article notes that Veliko Tarnovo region has seen a 50% increase in hotel revenues over the past year. Looking only at hotel revenues on an annual basis, the capital remains the leader - only Varna and Burgas had more guests in summer, and the Blagoevgrad region in winter, the daily points out.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

In a Bulgarian National Radio interview, lawyer Yordanka Bekirska commented on the amendments to the Domestic Violence Act. "Our court has been successfully working on the law for 20 years. And after the long-awaited changes that have been in place since the beginning of the year, the general structure of the law has been preserved. Where it is not a crime under the Criminal Code, domestic violence is subject to civil process," she explained. "We still stick to the civil law aspect of the act of violence, which is different from most states. In most countries, domestic violence is criminalized per se. There is no other country in Europe where the aspect of domestic violence is civil," she added. Bekirska pointed out that after the amendments violence is more easily defined and it is now clear that anyone can be a victim of violence, regardless of their position in society. She noted that Bulgaria can be proud that the first protective measure is granted within just 24 hours of its request.

SPORTS

Bulgaria’s highest ranked tennis player Grigor Dimitrov’s first ATP title since 2017 was covered in most media outlets on Monday. Dimitrov won the ATP 250 tournament in Brisbane with a win over world No.8 Holger Rune in the final on Sunday.