site.btaMedia Review: May 15

PROTESTS IN SOFIA

Mediapool.bg has a story on the protests in Sofia. "For the second day today Sofia is under the blockade and the protests are increasing, with three in the capital today," it reads. Workers in the city's surface transport refuse to work for a second consecutive day demanding higher wages. The three national state media outlets - the Bulgarian News Agency, the Bulgarian National Radio and the Bulgarian National Television - will also protest for better pay. The third protest is by parents against compulsory religious education in schools. Mediapool.bg quotes Sofia Mayor Vassil Terziev as saying that the demands of the public transport protesters are "unreasonable" and "dangerous". "I do not work with what I want, but with what is possible," he said.

The Bulgarian National Radio reported that preparations are taking place to include the capital’s metro in the strike action for Friday. "We are making preparations to stop the metro from tomorrow, so that they do not distinguish between the metro and public transport. We are one," said Ivan Kirilov, chairman of the Transport Workers Federation under Podkrepa Confederation of Labour.

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In an interview with the Bulgarian National Radio, Association of European Journalists - Bulgaria Board Member Maria Cheresheva said that the average salary for the country in 2024 was around BGN 2,200, while some public media employees received salaries of BGN 1,500-1,600. "This is absolutely below the line of decent pay," she stressed. Low pay and vulnerability create conditions for dependency, Cheresheva underlined.

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On Bulgarian National Television's morning show, Sofia Mayor Vassil Terziev stated categorically that the protest of the public transport workers has a political flavour. "The problem is that what the trade unions want is taking us away from being able to make the necessary changes in the rolling stock, to implement this ambitious programme that was adopted by the Municipal Council for BGN 1 billion to replace the entire rolling stock," he added. In his words, to achieve ensure the salary increase wanted by the unions, the Municipality has to pay BGN 200 million extra every year from 2027. "In total, that's BGN 400 million. BGN 400 million can be used to buy 800 buses," the Mayor calculated. In this year's transport budget, BGN 312 million are earmarked to go to salaries. The request is to add another 200 million in 2027. "I am fighting so that the problem of the pay of drivers and people who work in the workshops is solved, so that work can be normalized and there are no people who have 80-90 hours of overtime - this is not normal. But to solve it we need to increase the number of people who are missing in the capital's bus transport system," Terziev added.

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Bulgarian National Television's morning show also featured interviews with Podkrepa Confederation of Labour's electric transport department head Georgi Panayotov and Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Bulgaria President Plamen Dimitrov. Panayotov said that there is currently no deadline for the protest in the sector and that "trust in the Municipality has been lost since last year". He did not give any reasoning as to why this has happened at that exact time. Dimitrov shared his expectations that more sectors will come out to protest in the coming days. "Something is happening that we warned about three months ago when the State Budget was passed," he said.

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On Nova Television's morning show, Sofia Municipal Council members Simeon Stavrev (Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria) and Dimitar Vuchev (GERB) discussed the protest of the public transport workers. "They should get a raise, but it cannot be at the expense of kindergartens, schools. The Mayor's proposal at the beginning was to give BGN 400 to drivers and service workers, where the problem is the biggest. The shortage of drivers is the main issue. The administration in the four companies consists of 750 people," Stavrev specified. The two provided differing opinions on how much a BGN 400 increase would cost the Municipality - Vuchev estimated it at BGN 24 million, while Stavrev said the real amount was BGN 52 million. Vuchev argued that the Municipality has the funds to meet the terms of the protesters but Stavrev did not agree: "Last year we increased wages by 15%. They have a bonus system that on average pays drivers BGN 291 extra per month. It costs another 15 million. It is not true that this money is there. In the current accounts in the Municipality there are no such funds", he said.

PRESIDENT'S REFERENDUM PROPOSAL

On bTV's morning show, Democratic Bulgaria Co-Chair Ivaylo Mirchev commented on the protests in Sofia, President Rumen Radev's proposal for a referendum on the euro adoption in 2026, as well as the faulty crackdown against a cigarette smuggling ring in Plovdiv. He said there were indications that the protesting public transport employees in the capital were being used for political purposes by the country's Government. On the cigarette smuggling ring, he shared his impressions of Wednesday's closed-door meeting of the Parliament's Internal Security and Public Order Committee, which heard rank-and-file officers, who went ahead with the raid against the smugglers risking their careers, and their superiors, who allegedly made attempts to stop an ongoing anti-smuggling operation and tip-off the smugglers of the impending arrests. "Generally, what we learned at this meeting is that these police officers did their job perfectly. Not only that, they found out that there was a leak of information from the General Directorate Combating Organized Crime (GDCOC), they filed a report and disciplinary proceedings were initiated," Mirchev said. "What is clear from the whole case now categorically is that there is a shield in the Interior Ministry. When the wrong contraband is caught, this is what follows," he added. Asked who was behind the shield, Mirchev did not name specific names, but said it was people from Movement for Rights and Freedoms – New Beginning Floor Leader Delyan Peevski's circle and described them as influential Bulgarian politicians.

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24 Chasa features an interview with lawyer and former GERB-UDF MP Radomir Cholakov who commented on President Rumen Radev's proposal for a referendum on the euro adoption in 2026. He attributed the proposal to the fact that some "President’s advisers are dreaming of a political project and see themselves as ministers and ambassadors", while others "panicked by the possible revelations on the Botash gas-deal controversy" and felt pressured to find another topic to distract public attention.

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In an interview with the Bulgarian National Radio, Green Movement Co-Chair Daniela Bozhinova argued that National Assembly Chair Nataliya Kiselova had exceeded her powers by refusing President Rumen Radev's proposal for a referendum on the euro adoption in 2026 to be voted in the National Assembly. Bozhinova said it was difficult to judge whether Radev's proposal was unconstitutional.

ECONOMY

24 Chasa features an article by Center for the Study of Democracy Senior Associate Fellow Nicola Yankov. The text argues strongly in favor of Bulgaria joining the Eurozone, addressing and debunking common fears with clear economic and legal reasoning. It explains that after joining, the Bulgarian National Bank will not be able to finance the government or commercial banks—practices currently restricted only by national law and easily changeable. In contrast, Eurozone rules impose strict, binding limits on deficits and debt, offering stronger protection against fiscal mismanagement. The author dismisses concerns about inflation, devaluation, and loss of sovereignty. Inflation linked to euro adoption has been minimal in other countries, and Bulgaria already follows Eurozone monetary policy without having a seat at the table. The fixed exchange rate will remain at 1.95583 BGN per euro, and Eurozone entry guarantees its stability. The piece emphasizes that Bulgaria won’t take on other countries' debts and that the ECB will not seize the country’s reserves, which will stay under BNB control with added transparency. Ultimately, euro adoption is framed not only as an economic benefit but as a strategic and civilizational choice—completing Bulgaria’s EU integration and protecting it from external (particularly Russian) influence.

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Trud has an interview with the head of the Institute for Population and Human Studies at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Spas Tashev, who commented on evidence that the demographic crisis in Bulgaria is slowly beginning to be overcome. "In 2024 the migration growth is 39,200 people. And given that the gap between birth and death rates in Bulgaria is on the order of 50,000 people during this period, it is clear that through this migration we are largely offsetting the overall population decline," he said. Tashev added that in previous periods the population has declined by 50-60,000 people, making the current indicators a success. Only a third of the people arriving in the country are Bulgarian citizens, while the vast majority of the rest are from non-EU countries. In 2015, arrivals from third countries were 1,200 and in 2023 - 7,000. A large number of them are from Russia and Ukraine, which are currently at war. "My personal opinion is that if the conflict between them is resolved, maybe we won't have such a large number of migrants in the future," Tashev added. He stressed that mostly young people are leaving the country and middle-aged and above middle-aged people are returning. "People who have worked 20-30 years abroad. Younger people are trying to find employment abroad," he noted.

SOCIETY

Telegraph quotes a Clean Cities Campaign study, which identifies Sofia as the most dangerous city for street children across Europe. The ranking is determined by how many of the streets past schools have limited car traffic, how many of the streets have safe speed limits (30 km/h or less) and how much protected cycling infrastructure is developed.