site.btaMedia Review: December 12

SCHENGEN 

Bulgaria’s bud to join the Schengen border-free area continues to dominate the media. 

Capital: Bulgaria is officially waiving the 20 BGN per MWh fee on Russian gas transmission. This is happening just at the moment when key negotiations are taking place in Brno, Czech Republic, on this country's Schengen entry, held between Austria's Interior Minister Gerhard Karner and the Interior Ministers of Bulgaria and Romania. The link between the two events is that Bulgaria is likely to use the lifting of the fee, introduced in October, as one of the last levers of influence on Austria. Although Vienna does not rely entirely on gas supplies via Bulgaria's TurkStream, there is ample reason to believe that the country depends on the amount of Russian gas entering Europe via Bulgaria.

The news of the cancellation of the controversial fee was announced by GERB leader Boyko Borissov and Coninue the Change co-leader Kiril Petkov, with Borissov saying that Bulgaria is "very close" to Schengen at this point. At the same time, there is heavy talk in diplomatic circles that the Netherlands is ready to lift its veto on Bulgaria. For now, however, Austria's stance is that at this stage only an "air Schengen" is possible, which in practice means no passport checks at airports, but this is not a true accession to the border-free area and will not solve the problems with queues at the borders, from which the Bulgarian and Romanian economies suffer. Prime Minister Denkov has already announced that this does not suffice and Bulgaria should become a full member of Schengen

 At the time of its introduction a few weeks ago, the BGN 20 fee was equivalent to a 20% increase compared to the European exchange. At the moment it is more towards 30%. Despite the implementation of the measure, absolutely nothing has been collected as part of it to date, proving both the impossibility of such an initiative and that a Schengen scenario may have been conceived from the outset.

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NOVA TV quotes Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov as saying that the Government will continue to negotiate Bulgaria's Schengen accession until the last business day of this year.  

"Opening the borders by air will not solve the queues at land crossings. The pragmatic approach is negotiations. If there is no understanding of the Bulgarian position, it will certainly affect our attitude towards their companies. Bulgaria has been very consistent in its approach, there has been no crack in the position, we are continuing the negotiations to find the best solution," Denkov said.

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Duma quotes Bulgarian Socialist Party leader Korneliya Ninova as saying that  Bulgaria’s Schengen accession only via air travel is “mere crumbs” and the incumbents must take a firm stance and give a clear answer whether they have agreed to additional terms to accept refugees.  

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Trud quotes MEP Ilhan Kyuchyuk (Renew Europe) as telling national radio that it would be devastating if Bulgaria agreed to Schengen only by air. He believes this will be a serious step back from the national position that had been forged for many years.  

There should be a clear deadline, a roadmap - to know when exactly Bulgaria and Romania will be full members of the Schengen area, he said. 

ECONOMY – BUDGET 

Mediapool: The maximum contributory income rises from the current  BGN 3,400 to BGN 3,750, which is an increase of slightly more than 10%. This is what MPs on the Parliamentary budget committee voted unanimously, which adopted the Public Social Insurance budget. The ceiling was last raised from BGN 3,000 leva to BGN 3,400 on April 1, 2022.

Whether the new value of BGN 3,750 will remain in the final version of the budget, however, is still not 100% certain, because the vote came after many twists and turns. The text of the controversial Article 9 was voted three times, but was never clarified.

 SOVIET ARMY MONUMENT – DISMANTLING 

The media cover the start of dismantling of the Soviet Army Monument in Sofia. 

Bulgarian National Radio reported that the dismantling of the Soviet Army Monument has officially begun. Sofia Governor Vyara Todeva announced the news in front of the monument.  According to her, the scaffolding around the monument is to be completed, after which the dismantling of the tallest figures will begin.

"Then everything will be sorted and inventoried on the spot," she explained.

Todeva insisted that there are serious cracks in the monument's figures, calling for its urgent dismantling.

"We are planning a public tender for the restoration itself, and from there the figures will be exhibited at the Museum of Socialist Art. We are also looking at a new site, which is currently being surveyed," she added.

The regional government has demanded the immediate removal of the Soviet Army Monument

Sculptor Marin Markov explained that the main reason for the soldier's legs splitting is that at one time, when the monument was installed, concrete was poured into the legs.

"Over time, water seeps in, in winter it freezes, and the ice splits the cast," he explained.

The Rise Up, BG! party will appeal the order to dismantle the Soviet Army Monument

Supporters of Vazrazhdane attacked the fences surrounding the Monument.  There is an increased police presence in the area around the monument.

Once again, the Bulgarian Socialist Party's Sofia chapter announced that they would not allow the monument to be dismantled.

UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS – EU - SCHEME 

bTV runs a story about businesses reporting unemployment benefits abuses in the EU.  

"This scheme is not new. Before it was called 'French unemployment', it was also called 'Spanish unemployment'. It has been practiced for several years because of deficits in European legislation. According to the regulation, unemployment benefits can be transferred from one country to another. Bulgarians involved in this scheme are taking advantage of this regulation, said the head of the Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association (BICA), Dobrin Ivanov. 

He also explained the way everything happens.  

"Bulgarian citizens travel to France organised by intermediaries and are fictitiously employed for two or three weeks in French companies in order to receive unemployment benefits. Their contracts are then terminated and they receive a certificate - a European form - which entitles them to receive the benefit in another EU Member State. They return to Bulgaria, register with the labour offices and receive compensation based on their last salary. Given the minimum wage in France, this is equivalent to the maximum unemployment benefit in Bulgaria. These people receive benefits worth BGN 1,800 a month for up to a year, which next year will be raised to BGN 2,250, he explained.   

"Here, besides harming the Bulgarian and European social security system, there is something else - those people who return to Bulgaria receive this money, but they start working without labour contracts, in the gray economy", he explained.  

According to Dobrin Ivanov, there are also many people involved who draw up medical expert reports, which aim to prov that people who benefit from the scheme cannot start work immediately.

"There are whole regions where this practice is carried out - Razlog, Gotse Delchev, Targovishte, Madan. It is more common there," he said. 

The French companies involved also get money under this scheme. The practice was stopped in Spain after a discussion with the Spanish Ambassador to Bulgaria, he said. 

SOCIETY – OPINION POLL – 2023

Bulgarian National TV quotes an Alpha Research poll, according to which 2023 was better than 2022. " 

Society has recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic and returned to the normal rhythm of life; after three years of political instability and a series of snap elections, Bulgaria has a regular government, but the ongoing scandals surrounding it deepen the crisis of confidence in institutions, political leaders and parties; and in the world, apart from Russia-Ukraine, a new war has broken out - between Israel and Hamas.

Despite these crises, the assessments of 2023 are better than they were a year ago. Mainly because for the adult Bulgarians this year has been a more successful for them and their families than it was for the country and the world, show the results of the survey, conducted at the end of November. 

In personal terms, 2023 was viewed as better than the previous year by 24% of respondents, while for 26% it was worse, and for 50% there was no significant change. Thus, 2020 remained the most critical year for Bulgarians, as it was marked by COVID and protests. In the current year, negative opinions decreased by ten points compared to the previous year, while positive ones increased by four.

The year 2023 was viewed as the most successful year for the youngest and people of active age (40-49 years), as well as for graduates and residents of the capital. The most dissatisfied remain pensioners and rural residents. If this positive trend continues, a preponderance of positive over negative assessments can be expected at the end of 2024, which has not been seen since before the pandemic, according to Alpha Research.