site.btaMedia Review: October 14

PROSECUTOR GENERAL NOMINATION

A main story in news publications on Monday, along with the ongoing full campaign for the early elections on October 27, are reactions to the nomination of Acting Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov as sole candidate for Prosecutor General. The nomination drew clashing reactions among the political forces earlier in the week.

President Rumen Radev, quoted by 24 Chasa, Mediapool, Trud, said that the current Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), cannot meet the high public expectations because it has repeatedly demonstrated that it is subject to political conjuncture and is woven by dependencies. Radev stressed that there are high public expectations that the new prosecutor general will restore the sense of justice, and has to be met with high public trust, which in turn requires their legitimate election to the post. 
 
Sega considers President Radev's comment as a signal that he may not sign a decree appointing Borislav Sarafov as prosecutor general if he is elected by this Supreme Judicial Council and that the President thinks that the SJC is putting the procedure at risk by nominating only one candidate. The vote is scheduled for January 16, and under new legal requirements, only 13 of the 25-member SJC must vote for him to be elected. The procedure for electing the next head of the Supreme Administrative Court is also about to be opened. Radev also recalled that Parliament is obliged by the Constitution to choose its quota in the SJC, something that the legislative power has been delaying for 2 years now (and much longer for the election of the Inspectorate at the SJC).

Mediapool and Sega report that the Plovdiv Bar Association, the second largest in the country, is adamantly against Sarafov's the sole nomination for prosecutor general. They argued that the procedure is just for show and that he only candidate has "debatable moral and ethical qualities and public authority"and called on the SJC to terminate the procedure.The Plovdiv Bar Association recalled Sarafov and previous prosecutor general Ivan Geshev's media conflict in the aftermath of an attack on Geshev's motorcade, and stated their support for the the opinion of SCJ member Olga Kerelska: "This scandal undermines the prestige of the judiciary in an unacceptable way. What is happening is humiliating for both prosecutors and judges, as part of the judicial system in Bulgaria."

Mediapool adds that the previous two prosecutor general election procedures also only had one candidate, Ivan Geshev and Boris Velchev. Only during the election of former prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov there were three candidates, one of whom was Sarafov.

Trud quotes Vladimir Nikolov, Chair of the Association of Prosecutors in Bulgaria, who commented that it is not illegal to have only one nomination for prosecutor general. He also stressed the importance of the SJC conducting an open and transparent procedure.

POLITICS

Sega quotes Alpha Research sociologist Boryana Dimitrova who said on Darik Radio that the upcoming October 27 snap elections can bring unexpected surprises. Dimitrova noted that the split in the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) created a new, different situation, as the extreme tension and pressure to support one or the other faction creates a mobilization among people to vote. She also noted that it is possible that the electoral success of certain national-populist parties will lead to a civil mobilization similar to that in Poland, Turkiye, the USA, etc. The exhaustion after a string of elections, the delay in establishing a regular government and the blocking of various institutions create favorable conditions for the release of a possible new political project by President Rumen Radev, who, according to Dimitrova, has already stepped out of the role of president.

24 Chasa quotes Gallup political scientist Parvan Simeonov, who commented that support for all the players in these elections is going down, so he predicted that, unlike previously when the goal was to compete, this time around they might try harder to work together. Simeonov said that at the moment, there are no clearly drawn red lines between the two top parties GERB-UDF and Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB), and they have no difference in their programs. Both are aware that new elections would be a disaster for them. He argued that the main questions of interest are who will be nominated as prime minister, and how the situation with the MRF will play out.

 24 Chasa quotes former prime minister Ivan Kostov, who said in a Nova TV interview that Bulgaria has been in a permanent crisis for quite some time. He argued that the frequent elections destroy the financial stability of the country, and noted that this is evident from the latest data of the Ministry of Finance. According to estimates, next year there should be a deficit of BGN 18 billion, which is a huge burden, he stressed.

Trud quoted President Rumen Radev, who said that not only Bulgarian society, but also the political parties themselves would benefit if they at least for a few days during their campaign they put aside the issue of who is worse and open the big debate about how they will make Bulgaria safer, stronger, more successful and richer if they come to power.

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Mediapool writes that the CC-DB coalition will send a request to the Constitutional Court for the interpretation on the matter of the parliamentary immunity, in relation to the care of MRF MP Dzheyhan Ibryamov, who was detained for vote buying. In the course of the investigation it was revealed that Ibryamov had been wiretapped before his parliamentary immunity was lifted. The publication goes on to explain that this creates the paradox that, even if found guilty, Ibryamov will probably be acquitted because of illegal procedural actions. CC-DB's Bozhidar Bozhanov argued that the outcome doesn't matter, and that the goal of Delyan Peevski's MRF faction is the publicity this generates in his favour and to the detriment of Ahmed Dogan's MRF faction. 

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS

Trud quotes President Rumen Radev, who commented on the remarks of North Macedonia's Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski that he is ready to talk with the Bulgarian President about the inclusion of the Macedonian Bulgarians in that country's Constitution, as well as Skopje's EU membership, Rumen Radev recalled his repeatedly stated readiness for dialogue with North Macedonia, but added that the main talks should be conducted mainly between the Republic of North Macedonia and the European Commission, and it is a dialogue on the conditions that North Macedonia has to fulfill so that EU membership negotiations can start. Radev also pointed out that he had explained all this to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and added that "we do not need any mediation here. Things are clear, it is just that the Republic of North Macedonia has to meet these requirements set by the EU". 

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Trud reports that Vazrazhdane party members Iskra Mihaylova, Daniel Prodanov and Stoyan Taslakov returned from Berlin, where they had a meeting with representatives of the Alternative for Germany party regarding the preservation of the Maritsa-East complex. The sides agreed on the harm caused by the Green Deal and the Paris Agreement. Alternative for Germany MP Stefan Keuter and energy expert Daniel Weissbach assured their Bulgarian partners that they have extremely close views on both nuclear energy and coal mining, as well as regarding the Green Deal. The two sides have agreed and will soon present a concrete plan of joint action for a fairer future in the energy sector, which "should not be held hostage to the Green Deal". Vazrazhdane and Alternative for Germany partner with political parties from Poland, the Czechia, Slovakia and other European countries.

On the air of bTV, Vazrazhdane leader Kostadin Kostadinov said that the sides agreed to hold a conference to call for a Convention to discuss the implications of the Green Deal. The aim is to review the policies of the European Union regarding the Green Deal and the Paris Climate Agreement. The EU is trying to achieve carbon neutrality, but at the same time, in four-fifths of the rest of the world, these policies do not apply, he explained, adding that If this policy is not revised , the EU will lose competitiveness and will increase energy prices. He noted that Bulgaria was a victim in the EU's policy to limit nuclear power plants as soon as it entered the EU, with the closure of four units of the Kozloduy NPP, which brought the country huge losses of over BGN 20 billion. Kostadinov also reiterated his party's opposition to Bulgaria entering the Eurozone. 

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Trud quotes former defence minister Todor Tagarev, who said in a BNT interview that a nuclear threat comes not only from Moscow, although experts consider that the probability there is very small, but also from from North Korea, Iran, which is making progress with its nuclear programme. "All these issues of global security we should solve as part of the democratic world," Tagarev said, noting that there is no way Bulgaria can make a decision on its own or take any effective actions to control the spread of nuclear weapons, much less their use. The same goes for the wave of refugees. "This issue has a solution when we work with our partners, our allies from the European Union, with our neighbors, with Turkiye," he noted arguing that the solution is a common European policy on how to deal with refugees, and part of this European policy should be that they do not come to Europe.

ENVIRONMENT

Sega quotes lawyer Dimitar Ploshakov, who told BNR, that state institutions deliberately compromise the air quality control system and called for criminal prosecution against the responsible authorities. He pointed out that not the municipalities, but the Minister of the Environment bears personal responsibility for the location of the measuring points. Ploshakov is the first to file a lawsuit for BGN 10,000 compensation against the Ministry of Environment and Water for the damages he and his family suffered due to the poor air quality After extensive and thorough research on ambient air quality control, the lawyer found that the locations where the ambient air quality measurement stations are placed are far from the places where there is a high concentration of fine dust particles. He stated that after 6 months of research, he came across an order from the Environment Minister to move the measuring devices, after another EU criminal case for poor air quality in Bulgaria.At the beginning of this week, the Environment Ministry itself stated that "the claim that the location of the monitoring points does not meet the requirements of European and national legislation is incorrect and greatly exaggerated."

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Telegraph and 24 Chasa report on wildfire damage to Bulgarian forests in 2024. Bulgaria ranks second, after Cyprus, in terms of forest fires in Europe, shows European Forest Fire Information System data. Since the beginning of the year, more than 500 forest fires have occurred in the country. The affected area is over 17,000 hectares, 10% of which is completely destroyed. Statistics show that 63% of fires in forest areas were caused by negligence, and in 27% the causes are unknown. Only 3% were intentional.

The affected farmers will be compensated with BGN 1.9 million from the State. By the end of this month, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, together with the state forestry enterprises, will prepare a plan to restore the burned forests

HOME AFFAIRS

Sega writes that a record number of reports of online crimes against children, nearly 300,000, have been processed by the Bulgarian Safer Internet Centre. By September alone, alerts exceeded 5 times those of the entire past year, data show. The exact number of online abuse reports processed for the period January-September 2024 was 293,312, and included distributing pictures and videos of sexual content with children, sexual extortion and exploitation. A total of 99% were for crimes against girls and 1% - against boys. Children aged 10-14 were the most affected.

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Sega, Trud, Telegraph, Mediapool report that electric scooter accidents in Bulgaria have almost tripled over the last year. In the summer months of June to September alone, there were 277 accidents involving scooters in 2024, compared to 105 in 2023. Seven people died.

Chief Inspector Lachezar Bliznakov from the Road Police told Nova TV that authorities are increasing control of electric scooters. Bliznakov recalled that, by law, electric scooters cannot be used in parks. They can move only on the bicycle infrastructure, and if there is none, they participate in traffic and abide by traffic laws.

ECONOMY

Telegraph reports that Bulgaria is the eighth best place to invest in real estate in Europe, with an annual gross rental yield of 4.65%. Bulgaria and Romania have the lowest tax on rental income in all of Europe (10%), indicates a new study by the British company 1st Move International. The countries of Central and Eastern Europe are at the top of the list of real estate investors.

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Former minister for EU funds Atanas Pekanov said on the air of bTV that the EU institutions' patience with Bulgaria has run out and they are withholding part of the payments for the reforms that this country has not completed under the Recovery and Resilience Plan and may even request back previous payments. Pekanov also criticized the authorities for not adopting a road map in relation to coal regions. Pekanov pointed to January 1, 2026 as a realistic date for Bulgaria's acceptance into the Eurozone.

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Sega writes that Bulgaria is one of the leaders in the EU in terms of support in the small ruminant sector. The National Sheep and Goat Breeding Association, whose representatives visited the largest European animal breeding exhibition in France at the beginning of October were surprised by the support rate for one sheep in France, which is around EUR 25 euros, and there is also a limit on the number of supported animals, while in Bulgaria that numb er is close to EUR 80. In addition, French breeders do not benefit from Ukrainian-related aid, while Bulgarian farmers have been receiving this type of support for the third year in a row, and even declared the BGN 660 million allocated from the state budget this year as a "handout". Despite the low purchase prices and more modest subsidies, French farmers have better results than Bulgarian ones. The key to success is optimization of the production process, higher productivity and cooperation between farmers. 

Telegraph, 24 Chasa write that Bulgarian sheep brine cheese is becoming more and more popular in Europe and that France wants Bulgarian lambs for its market. The National Sheep and Goat Breeding Association is focused on how best to partner European and Bulgarian farmers. 

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Telegraph reports that the first private train made a trial trip on Friday, according to the website of the company PIMK Rail Express. The train consisted of two 19-91 series passenger cars, converted from first to second class, and a Siemens Smartron locomotive. However, the future of private passenger rail transport in Bulgaria remains unclear. PIMK Rail Express continues to prepare for the launch of its service, but a specific date has not yet been announced. The main obstacle to the launch of the service is the shortage of rolling stock on the market. This difficulty has led to a delay in the test trip.

SOCIETY & CULTURE

Bulgarian National Television's morning programme on Monday, as well as Trud, Mediapool, 24 Chasa, report that in memory of the legendary rock musician Kiril Marichkov, who passed away in an accident on Friday, hundreds of guitarists performed the classic song "Kletva" ("Oath") written and composed by Marichkov, during Sofia Guitar Fest at the National Palace of Culture. The first large-scale mass playing of guitars was intended to be a tribute for Marichkov's upcoming 80th birthday, and he was meant to attend. Fans of the musician also gathered in the evening in front of Kiril Marichkov's home in Sofia Street and sang together favorite songs of Marichkov's band Shturtsite. Marichkov's memorial service will take place on Tuesday at 1 p.m. on the Saint Sofia church. On bTV's morning programme on Monday, colleagues, relatives and friends shared their memories of the patriarch of Bulgarian rock.