site.btaMedia Review: March 25

BULGARIAN KILLED IN STRIKE ON UN COMPOUND IN GAZA: THE AFTERMATH

The media have news and commentaries on the death of Bulgarian UN worker Marin Marinov in Gaza on March 19.

24 Chasa quotes a statement by UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric who said on Monday that based on currently available information, "the strikes hitting a UN compound in Deir Al Balah on March 19 were caused by an Israeli tank". "The strikes claimed the life of a UN colleague from Bulgaria and left six others – from France, Moldova, North Macedonia, Palestine and the United Kingdom – with severe injuries, some of them life-altering." The location of the compound was well known to all the parties to the conflict.

24 Chasa, among other media, reports that Israel again denied any involvement in the strikes on the UN base on March 19. A spokesperson for Israel's Foreign Ministry said on X early on Tuesday: "The initial examination found no connection to Israel Defense Forces' activity whatsoever. The UN inquiry team itself hasn't even arrived at the scene. Yet the UN is quick to publish another baseless slander against Israel. No standards, no professionalism — nothing stands in the way of the UN Secretary-General in another attempt to smear Israel."

Interviewed on the Bulgarian National Television (BNT), journalist Georgi Milkov expressed doubts about the possibility of an independent investigation by Israel "because right now in Gaza, journalists, humanitarian workers and food convoys are being deliberately targeted, electricity is cut off. Israel does not allow foreign journalists into Gaza, and those who are already there, usually of Palestinian origin and working for television channels and media outlets, are being killed, despite wearing PRESS markings".

Miroslav Zafirov, diplomat and political adviser to the UN mission in Israel, commented on the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) that it is absolutely unacceptable to use such a tragedy for political purposes. He was apparently referring to plans by Vazrazhdane, the third largest parliamentary group, which said on Monday it would table a motion of no confidence in the government of Rosen Zhelyazkov over "a systematic failure in the country's foreign policy".

POLITICS

Interviewed by BNT on Tuesday, Vazrazhdane Deputy Floor Leader Petar Petrov said the motion was prompted by the government's policy, which is "disastrous" for Bulgaria, especially in the area of foreign policy, "where the Rosen Zhelyazkov cabinet has adopted uncritically the confrontational policy pursued so far, not a policy of peace". The majority of Bulgarians do not want to intervene directly or indirectly in the military conflict, Petrov said. He also claimed that the government acted on orders of "the so-called European partners for rearmament".

Vazrazhdane said on Monday it viewed as "scandalous passivity" the government's stance after Marinov's death in Gaza. Leader Kostadin Kostadinov accused Foreign Minister Georg Georgiev of "disgracing Bulgaria by saying that if the government demands an investigation into the case and blames the State of Israel for it, that would put at risk Bulgaria's reputation".

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Interviewed on BNT, Stanislav Balabanov, Deputy Floor Leader of There Is Such a People, said the most sensible thing the government coalition has managed to do so far is to align the majority in Parliamentary and the executive so as to have functioning institutions and stability, now that the State Budget Act has been adopted. He denied any involvement of Delyan Peevski's MRF-New Beginning in governance.

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An analysis in mediapool.bg headlined "Will Defence Spending Devour the Welfare State?" looks at the difficult balance between social policy and the need to invest more in defence. Public opinion in Bulgaria has supported higher spending on social policy and health care for years. This trend was confirmed by an Alpha Research survey in February, which found that 57% of Bulgarians want healthcare to be the top priority in the 2025 budget (which was adopted on March 21). Health care is a priority for all social, demographic and electoral groups, with only those aged over 65 saying larger pensions are their top priority. Yordan Bozhilov, founder and Director of the Sofia Security Forum and former deputy defence minister, told mediapool.bg that increasing the defence budget by up to 1% would not have a dramatic impact on other sectors. Arkadi Sharkov from the Experts Club for Economics and Politics (EKIP) commented that wealthier countries have been able to finance both sectors thanks to economic growth, while poorer countries face tough trade-offs, sacrificing healthcare in favour of defence.

SPORTS TOTALIZATOR GAFFE

The number 41 drawn on March 23 in Second Lotto Chance - 5 out of 35, a game of the Bulgarian Sports Totalizator Totalizator, has made the headlines of 24 Chasa (Angel Number 41 Had State Toto CEO Fired in a Matter of Hours) and Trud (41: The Number of Fraud). In numerology, the angel number 41 is attributed various spiritual meanings. Telegraf also reports, on an onside page, that Sports Totalizator Executive Director Georgi Tarlekov was fired after the incident. He was in charge of designating the commission overseeing the draws.

Trud explains that the different games use different colour balls: "6 out of 42" uses blue balls,"5 out of 35" uses yellow, and "6 from 49" uses red. The ball with number 41 is yellow, and no one said how this was possible. It is likely that the Totalizator purchased balls numbered from 0 to 49 in one colour, and some colour-blind employee placed the wrong set. This does not sound like an excuse, but more like grounds for dismissal, the daily says.

Trud rounds up opinion on the impact of the botched-up draw. Former finance minister Simeon Djankov says it would be an excellent idea for the Toto (as the Totalizator is known popularly) to be overseen by the Ministry of Finance. He argues that gambling licences are issued by the National Revenue Agency, which operates under the Finance Ministry. The latter oversees fund allocation among administrations, making it a logical choice to manage Toto revenue distribution.

Former sports minister Krassen Kralev says the gaffe shattered confidence in the games of chance, and puts the blame on Tarlekov. A former financial adviser at the Sports Ministry, Tarlekov had no experience in the gambling industry and had a bad media image. Kralev called the error "managerial, institutional and symbolic of the chaos in which one of the oldest and most emblematic state-owned companies is mired".

Dimitar Terziev, former chairman of the State Gambling Commission, said on bTV that the "6 out of 42" game uses yellow balls, while "5 out of 35" uses red balls. The balls were apparently prepared for the 6/42 draw, not for 5/35. Terziev believes this was a human error and the team had about a minute and a half to notice it.

MECh PARLIAMENTARY GROUP

Analysts comment on the possible scenarios after the dissolution of the Morality, Unity, Honour (MECh) parliamentary group on March 21 when Parliament Chair Nataliya Kiselova announced that it was one member short of the required minimum of 10 members.

On Nova TV, PR expert Diana Damyanova and political analyst Georgi Prodanov commented on Kiselova's announcement and MECh leader Radostin Vasilev's reaction.

Damyanova said that in what she saw as two acts of justice, Velichie entered Parliament because people voted for it, and MECh will be reinstated on March 26 because this is dictated by political logic. Radostin Vasilev's popularity is growing through hooligan-style behaviour, in competition with Vazrazhdane leader Kostadinov. She also said that with Velichie in Parliament, there will likely be shifting majorities.

For his part, Georgi Prodanov commented that Kiselova was too focused on the letter of the law. After the dissolution of the MECh group, the debate about the adopted 2025 budget ceased. What is worse, doubts arose about transparency in Parliament, giving Radostin Vasilev a chance to energize his voters. The analyst talked about a new cycle of crises and their resolutions, adding that he did not believe in an organized conspiracy against "the vocal MECh party".

In an analytical piece in 24 Chasa, Valeri Naydenov, former editor-in-chief of that daily, says that if only one MP of the 10-member Velichie group resigns, there will be 18 MPs outside parliamentary groups. He compares an independent MP to a ronin in feudal Japan - a samurai who had no master. Naydenov says "independent MPs are neither fully involved in committee work nor are they allowed to speak much from the rostrum; their salary is reduced, and they grow resentful". In a jocular tone, he says that as voters grow increasingly disenchanted with mainstream parties, numerous small parliamentary groups emerge and "one fine day, the independent ronins will outnumber the organized MPs, and a fundamentally new stage in the development of democracy will begin".

SLOVAK FOREIGN MINISTER INTERVIEWED

Interviewed by 24 Chasa, Slovak Foreign and European Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar talks about Bulgaria's chances of joining the eurozone and its benefits for his country, about the EU's energy security, Slovakia's views on the war in Ukraine, EU-US relations, and the worst security challenges facing countries like Slovakia and Bulgaria. Blanar, who visited Sofia on Monday, says Slovakia supports Bulgaria's entry in the eurozone. He says the euro will attract tourists and investors, it could accelerate wage growth and reduce costs for traders. Thanks to its eurozone membership since 2009, his country has become a gateway to Europe for many foreign investors, and has managed to secure several large investments with significant benefits for the economy. He also said that restoring Russian gas transit through Ukraine is a priority for the Slovak government, which has been acknowledged by the European Commission. Meanwhile, the Solidarity Ring project which is to carry gas from Azerbaijan to the Central and East European market brings into focus Bulgaria's role as an energy hub.

JUSTICE

24 Chasa has a story on a third video the media have received from a person claiming to be former investigator Petyo "The Euro" Petrov. The sender says this is the third alert against Teodora Georgieva, the Bulgarian member of the European Public Prosecutor's Office. The recording is dated January 13, 2020, predating by six months Petrov's exposure as a lobbyist in the judiciary. In the new video a man and a woman, allegedly Petrov and Georgieva, one of the candidates for the post at the time, are discussing the procedure for selecting a European Prosecutor. The conversation reveals that the other two candidates should withdraw.

Petrov has been missing since 2023 when it transpired that law-enforcers were after him. Sending the previous instalment of the video on March 10, the person signed as Petyo Petrov with the note "alive," claimed that Georgieva appeared in it. Petrov promised to provide further evidence of their meeting and voiced frustration that no one had acted on his alert. Acting on its own initiative, the prosecution service has launched an investigation. So far, none of the three alerts contains evidence of money being exchanged as Petrov claimed.

Interviewed by Nova TV, Boyko Stankushev, Director of the Anti-Corruption Fund (ACF), said the problem is that a large number of discrediting videos held by Petrov and his ex-wife are in someone's hands. Teodora Georgieva herself has not commented on the video, but she has been working on cases involving large sums of money recently. Stankushev also recalled that Georgieva's 75-year-old mother died in a fire in her home on February 15. He said the video should be checked for authenticity. "This is not just about the dependencies of magistrates. It turns out that a critical mass of dependent magistrates has accumulated in Bulgariat o an extent that it may be impossible to uncover the truth on significant issues, " said Stankushev.

BBC NAMES TWO BULGARIAN WOMEN INVOLVED IN RUSSIAN SPY NETWORK

Nova TV had a report on a BBC investigation which named for the first time two Bulgarian women as part of a Russian spy network run from the UK. Bulgarian nationals Cvetelina Gencheva and Tsvetanka Doncheva took part in elaborate surveillance operations against people spied on by the six Bulgarians convicted in London of conspiring to spy for Russia. The BBC quoted a source as saying that Gencheva, who lives in Sofia, was known to the Bulgarian security services as being connected to the spy network. She is not charged with any offence. Doncheva, who is unemployed and has lived in Vienna for 10 years, was arrested by Austrian police in December but was released.

RUSSIAN DEFECTOR'S LINK TO BULGARIA

24 Chasa publishes the first instalment of documents about high-ranking KGB officer Yuri Nosenko's links with Bulgaria. The daily says it has obtained documents showing that in 1961, Nosenko was dispatched by the KGB to Sofia at the request of Bulgaria's Interior Ministry to train intelligence officers. Nosenko defected to the US in 1964. Using specialist software, the newspaper uncovered Bulgaria's connection to the case within the vast archive of over 63,000 pages related to President Kennedy's assassination, which was declassified earlier in March by President Trump. The newly released archives reveal that in 1959-1960, while in Moscow, Nosenko was personally responsible for overseeing Lee Harvey Oswald. In 1961, he trained Bulgarian State Security experts in countering US operations. He helped them recruit an American professor specializing in Slavic studies. By 1962, he had offered to become a double agent for the Americans in Switzerland.