site.btaMedia Review: February 21

Governance Memorandum

24 Chasa has an extensive article on Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria's (CC-DB) governance memorandum offer to GERB-UDF which will include the main goals of the Cabinet in the next nine months after the March 6 rotation of Government. The daily quotes CC-DB co-leader Kiril Petkov as saying that the document is a basis for negotiations, not an ultimatum, but if the two power-sharing coalitions fail to reach an agreement, early parliamentary elections should be held simultaneously with the European elections in June. The memorandum offers mirror rotation between Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov and Foreign Minister Mariya Gabriel every nine months, equal quotas in the regulators and a ban on floating majorities in parliament with other parties. "The drafted document is an initial negotiating point, but when we finalize it, it should turn into a real contract," Petkov stressed.

Telegraph also covers the story. The newspaper notes that the document will be made available to the media. The daily adds that the memorandum creation came about after the CC-DB assessed recent talks with their partners in government as “increasingly difficult and accompanied by statements in the media”.

GERB leader Boyko Borissov described the memorandum is "unacceptable and immature". "For me, from what they have written in the first ten lines - they read them to me - a two-in-one election is the absolutely logical conclusion of this non-coalition,” he commented for the press.  "Sharing the regulators! What country with a rule of law do that?! I guess we are supposed to see this as a very generous proposal to GERB: two split the State with Kiril Petkov two-ways, judiciary and regulators. This is unprincipled. For nine months the made any changed they wanted and never thought a memorandum was needed," Borissov added.

Duma highlights Socialist leader Korneliya Ninova's statement that there should be no rotation but resignation of the Government. She described the Government's stay in power as "anguish, instability and uncertainty."

National Revenue Agency, National Customs Agency Merger

Plans to create a single revenue agency in the country, which would merge the National Revenue Agency and the National Customs Agency, were also heavily covered in the media on Wednesday. 

24 Chasa devotes a whole page on the story. The daily quotes the Finance Ministry's position that such change will lead to more efficient revenue administration. The media outlet notes that there have been four previous attempts to merge the agencies, each of which was unsuccessful. The World Bank's initial recommendation came in 1999. Each attempt, however, met resistance from political forces or trade unions.

Financial expert Georgi Kadiev, a former deputy finance minister, told the Bulgarian National Radio a merger between the National Revenue Agency and the Customs Agency had long been on the table but it lacked administrative rationale. A poll among the agencies' staff members taken at the time when he was with the Finance Ministry found that they objected to a merger. This is a purely political decision, presumably prompted by a desire to take control of the two agencies and make it easier to push through certain decisions, the expert said. Kadiev argued that the Bulgarian system of two agencies is modelled on the French one, while the countries where the agencies function as one entity have an altogether different culture. Setting up one mega agency will cause chaos among the grassroots staff because motivation will plummet. The merger will aggravate the current problem with revenue collection for at least a year because the procedures are different. The staff of the two systems, about 12,000 people, must be reassigned to new posts, the two information systems must be aligned, and there is the question who will deal with drug trafficking and smuggling.

Telegraph also covers the story.

Trade in Influence in Judiciary

24 Chasa, Trud and Duma report the Supreme Judicial Council established an ad hoc commission of inquiry for the participation of judges in a group for trade in influence in the judiciary, which transpired after the killing of Martin "The Notary" Bozhanov. The ad hoc commission will have a term in office of three months.

Martin "The Notary" Bozhanov was shot dead in a gated complex in a Sofia suburb on the evening of January 31. According to media reports, he was a large-scale fixer of people's problems with the judiciary. He has been implicated in building a network of connections with prosecutors and judges whom he allegedly bribed, threatened, blackmailed or otherwise pressured to treat his "clients" favourably. Pretrial proceedings have been initiated. An ad hoc committee of inquiry has been set up in Parliament to look into the facts and circumstances surrounding the activity of the group around Bozhanov. 

On bTV's morning show, former interior minister and current CC-DB MP Boyko Rashkov commented on the topic. „It seems to me that up to this point the Interior Ministry services have not worked on Bozhanov at all. Hence, any reasonable person might consider whether he was protected by the Interior Ministry authorities, by the Prosecution Office authorities, to be able to carry out such criminal activity in front of the eyes of many Bulgarian citizens," he noted. According to him, the ad hoc commission set up to examine the facts and circumstances of the "Notary" case should also deal with "the activities of another similar criminal element - Petyo ‘The Euro‘ Petrov ".

On Bulgarian National Television‘s morning show CC-DB MP Nadezhda Yordanova also commented on the issue. „It became clear why the closure of the Specialized Criminal Court and Specialized Prosecution Service was necessary. We were ridiculed that this was not necessary. It turned out that this step was very important in order to break the dependencies and dark networks in the judiciary," she pointed out.

On Nova Television's morning show, Supreme Judicial Council member Atanaska Disheva described the scale on which the Notary network was operating, as "shocking". "Every day new evidence of influence exerted in court and different types of proceedings comes out. If Bozhanov's murder had not happened, his activities would have continued to spread," she stated. She also noted that the Prosecution Office should also be investigated. "Evidence has emerged of many cases involving prosecutors and investigators. Probably it should be started from [acting Prosecutor General] Borislav Sarafov. The circumstances surrounding his photo with Petyo Petrov should be investigated. It is unconvincing to claim that he was lured by [former prosecutor general Ivan] Geshev," Disheva said.

Politics

24 Chasa features a story on President Rumen Radev's alleged "Third of March" political project. "As a disciplined military man, Radev will wait for the end of the presidential term but will continue with frequent and surprising bombardments of the political class without rushing to become part of it," the daily quotes associates of the head of State, without specifying who they are. The article states that such a party will not be taking part in the European elections in June. A presidential project has been rumoured for a long time, and last year Radev himself "led" a popular movement in support of keeping March 3 (Liberation Day) as Bulgaria's national holiday. The idea of changing the date of the national holiday to May 24 (Day of Slavic Alphabet, Bulgarian Enlightenment and Culture) was among the proposed constitutional amendments. Shortly thereafter, politicians and public figures linked to the head of State set up an initiative committee to collect signatures for a referendum on keeping the date of the national holiday. Among them were MEP Petar Vitanov and former sports minister Vesela Lecheva. It is the initiative committee "Third of March" that is being considered as the basis for a future presidential project. 24 Chasa notes that analyses have shown that unless Radev personally heads the new political force, it will not be successful. Lecheva did not make a single public appearance after it was revealed that she had registered the movement, the article points out. Anticipation that Radev is planning to leave the President’s office early has increased, as he has warned for months that an alternative to the current parties could emerge, the daily adds.

* * *

Trud reports that Bulgarian parties Vazrazhdane and Alternative for Bulgarian Revival (ABV) attended a forum in Moscow organized by Russian President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party. The event was dedicated to "fighting modern practices of neo-colonialism". The newspaper quotes ABV Chair Rumen Petkov's speech at the forum: “We want a strong European Union that defends democracy, freedoms and rights, economic and social security and the safety of Europe. And all of this is impossible without Russia," he argued.

Economics

Trud reports the launching of traffic through the Zheleznitsa tunnel of the Struma Motorway. The facility is about 2 km long and is the longest road tunnel ever built in the country, the article states. During the launching event, Prime Minister Denkov underlined that "this sophisticated technological facility is a step towards the long-awaited connection between Central Europe, via Bulgaria, Vidin, border checkpoint Kulata and Greece". He recalled that the Motorway should have been ready for the Olympic Games in August 2004. Therefore, its construction is a priority for the current Government to make sure that Bulgarians will not have to wait another 20 years for a 20 km road, the daily quotes him.

24 Chasa also covers the launching of traffic through the tunnel. It quotes Regional Development Minister Andrey Tsekov as saying that the Government expects the entire highway to be completed by 2027-28.

* * *

Duma quotes Podkrepa Confederation of Labour data on unconditional basic income in Bulgaria, which states that some 600,000 people in working age are unemployed or working in the shadow economy.

* * *

Trud quotes European Automobile Manufacturers Association data which states that Bulgaria recorded the second largest rise in new car registrations in the European Union in January 2024 with an increase in market share of 24.4% compared to the same month last year, second only to Croatia (+30.7%).

Domestic Violence

24 Chasa features a poll commissioned by the daily and conducted by the Trend polling agency on domestic violence in Bulgaria. According to the survey, 82% of Bulgarians believe that domestic violence is a serious social issue and four out of ten people in the country know someone who has been a victim of domestic violence. ccording to 18% of respondents, there are cases where domestic violence is justified, and 13% do not consider hitting, threatening, social isolation, or restriction of contact domestic violence. Over two-thirds of respondents (69%) believe that some forms of aggression in the family are considered normal in society, and 11% believe that there are forms of domestic violence that can be justified. 

A total of 48% of respondents say that family problems should be solved within the family itself. Men overwhelmingly support this statement, while a larger share of women disagree.

Bulgarians believe that the leading factors for violence include alcohol and drug abuse (81%), psychological problems (64%), and financial difficulties or dependency (60%).

The most widely recognized form of domestic violence is non-consensual sex. Seven percent of respondents, however, do not consider it a form of domestic violence. According to 25% of respondents, insults, swearing, and threats are not a form of domestic violence. One-quarter of respondents said that controlling your partner’s clothes is also not a form of domestic violence.

The survey found that some forms of aggression remain underestimated by a section of society. Twenty percent of respondents were of the opinion that acts of jealousy were a sign of love. According to 15%, it is normal to check your partner's phone, messages, and calls. More likely to agree with this were men and poorly educated people in general.

25% of respondents deem it unacceptable to maintain an opposite-sex friendship when you are engaged. Such conservative attitudes are more typical of men, people aged over 60, the poorly educated, and residents of small towns and villages.

The majority of respondents (55%) are reluctant or do not believe at all that the police and justice system in Bulgaria can tackle domestic violence. Their share is equal to the share of people who say they are not aware of the legal measures that can be undertaken in cases of domestic violence.