site.btaMedia Review: May 17

XI JINPING' EUROPEAN TOUR

In its eight-page cover story titled "Xi Jinping in Europe: Divide and Rule," Capital Weekly writes that the Chinese leader's visit aspires to put across a message of China's stronger impact in Europe, projecting Beijing's economic and geopolitical ambitions. "China's strategy is to undermine EU unity while, at the same time, increasing its clout in separate Member States," the weekly observes. It specifies that two of Xi's European destinations - Serbia and Hungary, "remain reliably pro-China inclined on a continent where, as public opinion polls show, China's reputation has worsened." The Chinese President's tour did not result in breakthroughs on trade, the war in China and other issues that have soured EU-Chinese relations in recent years. Only a long list of agreements were signed on new joint projects which China says it will finance. In a bid to drive a wedge between the EU and the US, Beijing promotes the idea of European strategic autonomy, Capital notes. The hope is probably that the EU may act as a counterweight of the perceived American "hostility" towards China. Xi is trying to persuade the EU leaders not to follow suit after the US in restricting the import of electric vehicles and other high-tech Chinese products. "China is drawn by the Western Balkans because of their geostrategic location and proximity to the EU markets and views Serbia as a strategic European transport hub," the weekly points out. Before his arrival in Hungary, Xi praised Orban's Government for pursuing an "independent" foreign policy and "resisting" the great powers' policy. In a separate item, Capital writes that two-way trade between Bulgaria and China has been soaring over the last two decades, with Beijing invariably running a surplus. China ranks as Bulgaria's sixth largest import market, while Bulgarian exports to China is just a fifth of the trade flow in the opposite direction. At just EUR 150 million in 2023 and less than BGN 1.2 billion over the last ten years, Chinese investments in Bulgaria are "negligibly low," the weekly notes.

Trud frontpages its coverage of Russian President Vladimir Putin to China, borrowing the headline from a BBC report: "Xi and Putin Want Political Solution to Ukraine Crisis."

Interviewed on Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) Friday morning, political scientist Vladimir Shopov said: "We are witnessing the shaping of a very clear strategic axis including not only China and Russia but also countries like Iran and North Korea." "The deepening asymmetry in the relations between Russia and China, however, becomes particularly visible and already meets with negative reactions in certain circles in Moscow," the interviewee observed. He stressed that this partnership "guarantees Vladimir Putin's survival." "From now on, the EU does not have the luxury to be a bystander merely interpreting developments. Europe will have to identify a new tool kit to respond to potential threats," Shopov concluded.

ROBERT FICO'S ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

Journalist Petar Karaboev said on bTV Friday morning that "Slovakia is a country fraught with contradictions. It is deeply divided - thanks to Robert Fico." "The focus [of reactions to the attack] should be on whether Slovaks, their State, political system, media and legality will bridge the gap, because they are still on the brink and looking into the abyss," he commented. According to the interviewee, the assassination attempt against Fico "is catalyzing the polarization in the 5 million strong country."

THE HOME SCENE

A signed comment in Capital Weekly describes the recent meeting of Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) Co-chair Delyan Peevski with the ambassadors of European countries to Bulgaria as "his first success since his installation at the head of the MRF: the Western ambassadors who, until recently, shunned him, are now legitimating him." "In fact, this is a routine event: the ambassadors' corps often meets with the leaderships of parliamentary groups," the author says. "For Peevski & Co., however, the presence in the same room with the representatives of the Western countries in Sofia is an important part of his new image, which says that while he may be sanctioned for corruption by the US and Britain, the rest have no choice. They will pretend as if nothing has happened, they will be seeing him, having themselves photographed with him, and voters will draw their conclusion and vote for him."

Bulgarian Helsinki Committee Co-chair Adela Kachaunova argued in a BNR interview Friday morning that "persons sanctioned for corruption must not be legitimated after spending too many years in politics. They have given every cause for concern, but the European partners do not show any signs of distancing themselves [from such persons], no clear position at all. These things are indicative and very important." In her opinion, the European partners "apparently do not see the true faces of [Bulgarian] politicians sufficiently clearly or are reluctant to see them." Kachaunova is skeptical about the effectiveness of ad hoc prosecutor Daniela Taleva and raised the question about the resources available to her for her investigations. 

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In an analysis in www.segabg.com, Svetoslav Terziev argues that journalists-turned-politicians disgrace the media landscape. "Petar Volgin, Elena Yoncheva, Ivo Hristov, Nikolay Barekov, Anton Hekimyan have cashed in on their professional prestige and will not regain it," the author writes.

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Interviewed on the bTV morning show, Petar Volgin, who until recently hosted a show on National Radio and is now running for the European Parliament as a candidate of Vazrazhdane, said that, if elected, he will insist on fewer migrants in Bulgaria and the continued operation of the coal-fired power plants. His foremost priority will be to counter the desire of some of the large European countries to impose qualified majority for important decision making. "I don't want Europe to become a space without freedom," Volgin commented. 

JUSTICE

On two full inside pages, 24 Chasa has interviewed Deputy Sofia City Prosecutor Desislava Petrova. "The entire jurist community does not approve of the draft Judicial System Act. The universal idea of the bill is to put prosecutors under political control, and to make this idea publicly palatable, it has been insinuated persistently that the prosecution service does not work. The draft establishes political control over prosecutors by means of an entirely politically dominated Supreme Prosecutorial Council, where the entire personnel management power is concentrated. This will lead to never ending disciplinary proceedings against prosecutors, to pressuring them until they are replaced by new obedient people who do not prioritize their independence," Petrova comments. She argues that a refusal to institute or a dismissal of criminal proceedings is not an indication that the prosecution service is idle, considering that the court reversed just 0.087% of such refusals last year. Replying to a question, the interviewee says that "we expect the legislative pathology to be withdrawn and the bill to be reconsidered in its entirety, responsibly and with concern for its real consequences, with consideration for the arguments of all stakeholders." 

ELECTION CAMPAIGN FUNDING

Telegraph has checked the Bulgarian National Audit Office register of funding for the election campaign and found that just BGN 46,000 have been raised so far for the European Parliament election. Out of five cash contributions, three have been made by Daniel Lorer of Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB), totalling BGN 39,000 (declared as proceeds from the sale of real estate). The contributions for the national parliamentary elections approximate BGN 264,000, of which some BGN 67,000 have come from supporters and over BGN 197,000 from the MP candidates themselves. The largest single contribution was made by former regional development minister Andrei Tsekov, who is running on the CC-DB list in Blagoevgrad: BGN 30,000 (salary savings). Traditionally, GERB-UDF and MRF do not raise campaign donations. Vazrazhdane has not reported any, either. CC-DB have raised the largest amount: nearly BGN 140,000. Donations for the Socialist Party are nearly BGN 28,000, and those for There Is Such a People a little over BGN 10,000.

VOTING ABROAD

As many as 12,942 or more than half of the 27,707 applications for voting abroad in the European Parliament elections, and 4,257 applications out of a total of 38,393 for voting abroad in the national parliamentary elections have been rejected by the Central Election Commission, 24 Chasa reports, referring to the Commission's website. The reasons are missing or mistaken particulars or applicants who are not qualified voters. The largest number of applications have been submitted in Turkey: 25,537 for MPs and just 39 for MEPs. Traditionally, a large number of voters will also exercise their franchise in Germany, Spain and the UK.

NORTH MACEDONIA

Skopje-based freelance journalist Bojan Stojkovski writes in a two-page analysis in Capital Weekly that the conservative VMRO-DPMNE that won both the parliamentary and presidential elections in North Macedonia is coming back to power much stronger than before and with a leadership that is almost cleansed of its problematic past. The author sees an indication that the new government is willing to do what it has been doing before: play a "wait-and-see" game, just as at the time of Nikola Gruevski in the disputes with Greece and Bulgaria. "I don't think VMRO-DPMNE have a clear idea how to handle the constitutional amendments and European integration. Or, if they do, they don't communicate it clearly to the public," Eurothink brain trust Executive Director Dimitar Nikolovski told Capital. He nevertheless expects the constitutional revisions to be included in the coalition agreement with VLEN and to be adopted within a year after the elections. "This will follow the awareness that the EU negotiating framework cannot possibly be revised," the expert comments. "Just as before, Bulgaria and the Bulgarians - in the Republic of North Macedonia and in general, have been the convenient justification for the unwillingness or inability of the Macedonian political elite to start the country's tangible Europeanization," Skopje-based journalist Atanas Velickov told the weekly.

www.dnevnik.bg has rounded up the opinions of observers in Skopje and Sofia while a new cabinet in North Macedonia is expected to be formed and parliamentary elections in Bulgaria are to be held on June 9. Former deputy foreign minister Lyubomir Kyuchukov does not expect Skopje to withdraw unilaterally from the treaties with Sofia or Athens. "A review of North Macedonia's treaties with Greece and Bulgaria is practically impossible because neither of these two countries would accept this," he argues. According to Macedonian analyst Petar Arsovski, "VMRO-DPMNE and the country's new President actually believe that the negotiating framework [for EU accession] is acceptable. I don't think they will make an attempt to reject the negotiating framework. But I believe they need political motivation. They need to say that they will change something, be it cosmetic and insignificant. It may be some symbolic statement that these are the final terms. But even such cosmetic concession may prove a challenge." Kyuchukov is adamant: "Until the Bulgarians are included in North Macedonia's Constitution, the country will simply not start actual negotiations on EU membership. Brussels has already ripened to the idea of splitting Albania from North Macedonia [in the EU accession process]. The problem is that this may have a definite adverse impact on the region's stability and may cause serious ethnic tensions and political destabilization of North Macedonia itself."

COUNTER-CORRUPTION REFORM

In a two-page analysis contributed to Capital Weekly, Andrey Yankulov, senior legal expert at the non-governmental Anti-Corruption Fund, argues that the Commission for Anti-Corruption and Illegal Assets Forfeiture, which was established by GERB in 2018, "turned into a tool of harassment and racketeering of business and political opponents. The counter-corruption reform practically cemented this completely discredited commission in its existing name complement for an indefinite period of time, promoting its Chair Anton Slavchev to head of both [the newly set up Commission for Anti-Corruption (CAC) and Commission for Illegal Assets Forfeiture] and, moreover, vesting the two bodies with more powers than before." "The ultimate paradox is that these two commissions with an identical complement are already two distinct legal persons, have separate administrations, separate budgets and separate BULSTAT codes," the expert writes, recalling that, under the law, a new complement of the  CAC had to be elected by January 8, 2024 but an election procedure was never initiated. "The blocked election of a complement of the new CAC is one of the four reforms that Brussels regards as incomplete, which is a hurdle to the second payment under the [National] Recovery [and Resilience] Plan," Yankulov explains.

POWER SUPPLY

A two-page signed article in Capital Weekly predicts that the postponement of the liberalization of the wholesale electricity market will result in a 3-4% hike of household electricity as from July 1 because, instead of being charged at exchange prices, this power supply sector will continue to be rated at prices fixed by the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC), which factor in the expensive electricity supplied by State-owned Maritsa East 2 TPP with its high production costs. The deficit in the Electricity System Security Fund (ESSF) is expected to reach BGN 550 million by the end of June. The Finance Ministry will try to close the gap - again on taxpayers money, the author notes.  

For its part, Trud reports that the Kozloduy N-Plant will withdraw its request for a 30% rise of the price of its electricity and will submit a new proposal on Monday. "Before the EWRC adopts a decision on household electricity prices from July 1, the Government will take measures to offset the deficit in the ESSF without this affecting the prices paid by households," caretaker Energy Minister Vladimir Malinov is quoted as saying.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS

24 Chasa runs a page-long interview with Communications Regulations Commission (CRC) Chairman Ivan Dimitrov, who describes the Bulgarian electronic communications market as "exceedingly dynamic and steadily growing, one of the most stable and important economic sectors, with a huge and booming volume". In 2022 the market was worth BGN 3.4 billion, up 7% from 2021. The BGN 654 million invested in it in 2022 was an increase of 15%, year on year. At the end of 2023, the CRC granted authorizations for the use of radio spectrum frequencies in the 700 MHz and 800 MHz range, which is used for high-speed connectivity in more sparsely populated and outlying locations, where building a fixed network is economically unprofitable, Dimitrov explains. 
 
The top story in Trud says that electricity distribution companies have asked the EWRC to introduce a charge for access to the grid for properties which do not consume electricity, like vacant apartments and weekend houses.

DEFENCE INDUSTRY

TEREM-HOLDING Executive Director Kalin Dimitrov told Telegraph that the plant is starting to manufacture kamikaze drones. The unmanned combat aerial vehicles cost some BGN 2,000 but are capable of destroying tanks worth EUR 10-15 million, Dimitrov explained. The project for making cheap, low-tech drones is implemented in partnership with a thoroughly experienced Ukrainian company which provides the know-how. After a presentation before the Land Forces at the beginning of this year, assembly of the first batch is in progress. The holding is also developing a series of specialized munitions for drones, which will be mass-produced. They can hit targets at a distance of 10-15 km. The CEO said that work is underway on mastering the manufacture of 155 mm artillery shells. The first batch is ready, and serial production is forthcoming.

BOMB SQUAD

The main front-page story in Telegraph, continued on two full inside pages, tells about the work of the bomb squad of the Specialized Counterterrorism Commando. The bomb disposal experts are alerted on an average 15 occasions monthly. They respond to alerts or for routine checks of embassies, homes, football matches and other crowd events. Most reports concern abandoned suspicious suitcases, bags and other luggage. Quite a few of the reports are about ammunition like grenades stolen from defence industry plants or military facilities. In 99% of the cases, the luggage items do not contain an explosive. While there are no gender eligibility requirements for joining the team, the squad is all-male, says its commander, Chief Inspector Stiliyan Chochev. Asked what kind of improvised explosive devices are made by Bulgarians, he answers: "The simplest and cheapest, using what they can steal. For some time now, however, they have been using IED-making directions they find online." Chochev recalls a case in 2023, when a flight bound from Germany to Turkey made an emergency landing in Sofia because a laptop forgotten on a passenger seat was suspected to be a blast trigger. The laptop was removed to a safe location and was disposed of by a controlled explosion. 

MISSING PERSONS

24 Chassa frontpages a report according to which 274 missing person reports have been filed since the beginning of 2024, and 200 of them are searched for internationally. The number is large because it includes people who went missing in previous years but remain lost. Interpol Yellow Notices have been issued for 147 Bulgarians: 35 women and 112 men. Of the 796 people who disappeared in Bulgaria in 2023, 639 have been found, and the remaining 157 continue to be searched for in 2024. Between January 1 and 31, 2022, a record 769 missing persons reports were filed and 680 persons were declared found. The respective figures for 2021 were 265 and 200 and, for 2020, 183 and 137. 

BULGARIAN SCHOOLS ABROAD

On two full inside pages, Telegraph has interviewed Mimi Nicheva, Principal of the Sts Cyril and Methodius Sunday School in Athens, which recently marked its 20th birthday. Nicheva acknowledges the "adequate and timely" assistance of the Bulgarian State in the person of the Ministry of Education and Science and Bulgaria's Embassy in Greece. The functioning of the school is financed by the Ministry, while the pupils' parents pay small tuition fees. The institution also relies on sponsors. Replying to a question, the interviewee says that the main challenges facing Bulgarian educational institutions abroad is the growing number of children who do not speak Bulgarian, the lack of a clear mechanism for enrolling children left outside the system, the increasing difficulties in finding qualified teachers, and the Bulgarian history and geography textbooks that are too complicated for expat children. The principal says that there are four Bulgarian Sunday schools in Athens with a combined enrolment of some 600. About 50 graduates of her school have continued their studies in Bulgaria.

BULGARIAN FOLK ENSEMBLES ABROAD

Duma carries a two-page interview with Association of Bulgarian Folk Ensembles Abroad Chair Radoslava Nedyalkova, who says that the Association was established in November 2016 and now has 36 affiliates paying membership dues. Otherwise, there are more than 200 such ensembles in Europe and over 200 in North America. The lack of qualified experienced choreographers to train and organize the dancers in these ensembles is a problem. "We believe that the State must find a way to recognize our folk ensembles abroad, as has been the case with the Bulgarian Sunday schools," Nedyalkova argues. The Executive Agency for Bulgarians Abroad shares the view that folk ensembles abroad should be financed under a separate budget.