site.btaMedia Review: April 15

HEADLINES

Not a single topic dominates the frontpages of print media on Monday. The frontpage headline in Trud is about highly valuable string music instruments that were very recently returned to the state after being in private hands for 43 years. 24 Chasa leads with a story on electricity consumption across Bulgaria entitled “The rich steal the most electricity, they are being caught with smart devices”. The main topic in Telegraph is on Martin “The Notary” Bozhanov and accusations that he had threatened a lawyer in court. Duma leads with a story about the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and its aspirations for the discussion of a broad left political alliance. 

The leading topic on the morning programmes of the Bulgarian National Television (BNT), bTV, and Nova TV on Monday was Iran’s immense aerial overnight attack against Israel. Other topics were discussions on vehicle confiscation legislation for intoxicated drivers, easter pension benefits, and informative segments on tick-borne diseases prevention.

ECONOMY 

Former Social Minister Hasan Ademov was on the morning programme of BNT to comment on easter pension benefits. He said that easter benefits for pensioners restore tradition in Bulgarian social policy. According to him, it is a coincidence that it is happening at the dawn of snap parliamentary elections. "When one supports universally - on a per capita basis, then the amount should be larger. In that case, everyone is unhappy because if the total amount is bigger the budget will suffer, and if it is smaller, the support will be lower," he added. Ademov pointed out that in the 2024 state budget, BGN 48 out of BGN 100 in expenditures are tax expenditures, i.e. all Bulgarian citizens, including pensioners, pay half of the state social security budget through their taxes. "The mantra - increase pensions sustainably, has its price", he noted. Ademov is of the opinion that miracles hardly happen in the pension system. 

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Former Social Minister Hristina Hristova told BNR that “traditional ‘flirtation’ with the elderly, with pensioners, should not be allowed anymore. Playing with people's problems, concerns and expectations should not be allowed." There is a phenomenon in social policy called the “border syndrome”, Hristova noted. And because it is a social payment, whenever public government money is given, there is always a limit that is put - there is always an income criterion, and for several years we have been working with the poverty line, she said. According to Hristova, political instability, and in the last three years outright political turbulence, affects the quality of work of the state administration, which deteriorates the quality of life. Party leaders look to attract voters, to gain support, but it should not be at any cost, she said.

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24 Chasa writes that fifty “electricity police” officers are tracking illegal electricity consumption and have recorded the highest figures in richer city neighbourhoods. “They are not in the Roma neighborhoods or in Pernik anymore, most of them are in the rich neighborhoods of Sofia at the foot of Vitosha.” The daily writes that illegal consumption is often done by restaurants and hotels, a recent trend is observed with dry-cleaning services. Traditional thieves include crypto-mining labs, and marijuana greenhouses, 24 Chasa notes. 

POLITICS

Duma quotes BSP party leader Korneliya Ninova from a briefing after a party national council at which she said that BSP is initiating discussion on a broad left political alliance. Ninova said the BSP will invite more than 25 left-wing parties and more than 20 like-minded NGOs on May 1 to discuss a modern left-wing policy and a common alternative to the status quo.

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Political scientist Dimitar Ganev told BNR that without a new political entity there will be no electoral revolution. In the 18-30, 18-35, 18-40 age group, the relative share of the voting population is always the smallest, and this has not been the case for the last few years. Younger people are less interested in politics. The young go out and vote more when they see a new political entity that they are convinced can make a bigger difference. A strong vote of the youth could be seen in the vote for National Movement for Stability and Progress, for GERB in 2009, for VOLYA, There Is Such a People and Continue the Change. This group was the quickest to become disillusioned, withdrawing its support and shifting its sympathies, the political scientist pointed out. He said that sociologists determine an increase in the distance between GERB-UDF and Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB). Ganev outlined three options for a new regular government. According to him, a government will be formed around GERB. Option one is again GERB and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) to sit down to negotiate with CC-DB. Option two is to look for a partnership outside the CC-DB because GERB and MRF do not have enough to have an independent majority. Option three, which is not ruled out, is to go to elections again in the autumn, he concluded.

LEGISLATION

On Friday, the Supreme Court of Cassation (SCC) referred to the Constitutional Court a request to declare unconstitutional certain texts of the Penal Code related to car confiscation of intoxicated drivers.

Lawyer Maria Yaneva told BNT that “the texts were very happily received by the public and by colleagues because there is a need to have serious and strict sanctions for those drivers who drive after drinking alcohol or using drugs. Unfortunately, the law was passed rather badly in this part, and it has put the Supreme Court judges in a position where they are unable to enforce it, which led to the ineffectiveness of the law." Head of the Union of Driving Instructors Emil Panchev said that despite the difficulties, according to him, the legislation is effective in the fact that drivers now have more respect towards order, police officers and the law in general. 

On the morning programme of bTV, lawyer Silviya Petkova said that if the Constitutional Court annuls the confiscation of vehicles, those already confiscated will not be returned. 

EDUCATION

Teach for Bulgaria Specialist in Strategic Partnerships Lyuba Yordanova told BNR that modifying students' curricula and fundamentally changing teacher training in universities are the two main directions from which a reform in the quality of education in Bulgaria should be pursued. According to her, in the last year has been holding numerous elections with zero reforms in education. "Without good education no other reform will be successful. It is time to sit at the table and talk about quality education so that we are adequate to the modern world," Yordanova urged. Reforms in education are not popular, do not appeal to everyone and do not bring quick political dividends, and that is why parties rarely get involved with them, Yordanova said. According to her, students are unable to make sense of the large amount of study materials, they "rush through it" and cannot make logical connections between the subjects they study. 

CULTURE

Trud’s story on the returned valuable string musical instruments to the state highlights that the Ministry of Culture is secretive about the expert who has checked the authenticity of the instruments. The daily quotes experts saying that the price of the instruments varies between EUR 5 million and EUR 20 million. Three of the four priceless string instruments have now been returned to the Ministry of Culture - the violins "Guarneri del Gesu" (1733), "Antonio Stradivari" (1716) and "Giofredo Cappa" (1691). The 'Matteo Goffriller' cello (1726) has not yet been returned. Musicologists are adamant that there are no more than twenty licensed experts in the world who can assess the authenticity of stringed musical instruments. The international practice is to grant such instruments for a period of three to five years, while in Bulgaria they were granted for use in 1981, i.e. for 43 years, Trud highlights. 

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS 

The morning programmes of BNT, bTV, and Nova TV hosted discussions on the escalation of conflicts in the Middle East, namely Iran’s aerial overnight attack against Israel. 

BNT had Dnevnik international editor Petar Karaboev and political scientist Iskren Ivanov, who agreed on that Iran’s strike was a sign of impending war. “Iran has broken a taboo that has existed for more than 4 decades of the Islamic Republic's existence - not to attack Israel from its own territory. Israel misread a situation for the second time, namely the Damascus strike. Iran's mistake was that it crossed the red line,” Karaboev said. According to Ivanov, Iran’s actions are undoubtedly a message, although this hard power that Iran used had another intention and that was to provoke war, to make Israel look like the aggressor, to make Israel out to be the bad guy in the region who will attack Iran and who will start the war. 

On the morning programme of bTV political scientist Martin Tabakov said that Iran's “response” against Israel was coordinated with the US. According to him, Russia will take advantage of the situation as it was damaging to international affairs. 

Nova TV had a Bulgarian national Daniela Chopova live broadcasted from Tel Aviv to talk about the strike and the situation on the ground. She said that the city was relatively calm, but the drones and missiles were visible in the sky. "The tension was high. To the north, you could not only see but also hear the attack," Chopova said. "We were warned that there was no need to stock up and prepare to stay in bomb shelters. It was a very difficult night for us as citizens and for the army," she said.

Middle East expert Dimitar Katsarkov told BNR that the attack is seen by Israel as part of a conflict that is taking on other dimensions and the strike is a new stage. "What we can expect is the extent of Netanyahu's response. For him, the Iran card has been successfully branded as a scarecrow, not only for Iran but also for Israel's regional allies. How heavily he uses this card remains to be seen. It has been known for years that Israel has its targets set in Iran - trade routes, uranium enrichment,” he noted.