site.btaMedia Review: April 17

HEADLINES

The top headline on the morning programmes of the Bulgarian National Television (BNT), bTV, Nova TV on Thursday is the no-confidence vote against the government of Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov. The no-confidence motion was filed on April 10 by the Morality, Unity, Honour (MECh) and was co-sponsored by the parliamentary groups of Vazrazhdane and Velichie. The motion is based on claims of corruption in four or five specific sectoral policies, including the contract with Turkish energy company Botas. The first no-confidence vote was over the Cabinet's foreign policy and was defeated on April 3.

Not a single topic dominates the front pages of print media. The Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) has an interview with Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) – United Left MP Maya Dimitrova on the no-confidence vote and the composition of the ruling coalition in Parliament.

POLITICS

Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) MP Venko Sabrutev told the morning programme of BNT that his party suspects that the current government, which CC-DB refers to as the “[GERB leader Boyko] Borissov – [MRF – New Beginning leader Delyan] Peevski” government, is trying to take people out of the Magnitsky list using money from the state budget. "For the BGN 7 billion, which are being withdrawn additionally as debt, there are big concerns whether they will not be used as a payback or a bargaining chip for removing people from the Magnitsky list," he noted. Sabrutev also announced that their parliamentary group will not participate in the vote on the second no-confidence motion against the Zhelyazkov cabinet.

Political scientist Svetoslav Malinov told BNR that there will be no need for great public energy. “The political logic leads to early elections next year after the announcement of eurozone entry. The various parties will try to declare this their success, after which I think the most sensible outcome is a new parliamentary majority - much more stable, much more robust and much more acceptable to the voters of the parties that will participate in it," Malinov noted. In his words, the CC-DB have not made any compromise by stating their position not to support the second no-confidence. "There is no compromise. There is a right and sensible policy with a view to balance. The idea - that for the sake of some radical oppositionism, every opportunity should be sought at the moment to bring down the government, regardless of the grand objective, this idea is destructive. Conversely, it is not just that the CC-DB should revert to being oppositionist after eurozone entry, which will happen instantly, but I think even GERB will reflect on what the point of this government's existence is," Malinov said.

CC-DB Co-floor Leader Nikolay Denkov said on the morning programme of bTV that there are ministers in the Zhelyazkov cabinet who work well. "I have no criticism towards the prime minister", Denkov said, after which he addressed such remarks to the interior minister about the case of whether there is an umbrella over smuggling. "The attempt of the Minister of Regional Development to blame the problem on previous governments, which have no relation to the work of the Road Infrastructure Agency - is also not correct. The government should know that the responsibility is theirs. 90 days have passed", Nikolay Denkov said.

BSP – United Left MP Maya Dimitrova told BNR in an interview that everything the current 3-month-old government is blamed for has had happened in previous governments too. She deemed unfair blaming for everything ministers who have only been in office for three months. Dimitrova noted that her party’s presence in the current government is "at the price of many compromises". As the biggest compromise, the MP pointed to entering into a government together with GERB. There is very little legislation passed - 5 bills. There are over 34 hearings. They continue to propose hearings for ministers, and parliamentary time is thus being wasted. These hearings should happen in the parliamentary committees. We cannot do our main job - to pass bills, said Maya Dimitrova. She denied the involvement of Peevski in the government.

ECONOMY

CC-DB Co-floor Leader Nikolay Denkov told bTV that the euro area is also a strategic goal because this is the way to be at the centre of Europe, where the important decisions are taken. There is no contradiction between working for the euro area and working for the people.

Bulgarian Oil and Gas Association Chair Svetoslav Benchev told the morning programme of BNT that fuel prices are trending down. He said that there is no speculation, seasonal increase or any other increase in fuel prices around the holidays, on the contrary - prices are going down. "The main factor is one - it is the tariffs that the US imposes. The problem there is that every day there is a new idea - we don't know how much, how, why. Yesterday, for example, oil went up a little bit by about a dollar, just because there are rumours that China and the US are going to reach some agreement on these tariffs after all. And the market is looking to see how far it can go," he added.

24 Chasa writes that a total of 10,905,281 passengers flew to and from Bulgaria's four international airports - Sofia, Varna, Burgas and Plovdiv, which is 95% of the level in the pre-pandemic 2019, when there were 11,474,051 people. The year-on-year growth is 3.7%.  The daily cites an analysis of the Association of Bulgarian Airlines, presented at the annual meeting by its chairman Svetoslav Stanulov and secretary general Yovko Yotsev.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos told BNT that if this pace of negotiations is maintained, Ukraine's accession to the EU could become a fact by 2030. As for the accession of the Western Balkans, the European Commissioner said that the historical moment is different, but there is a strong will on their side. Kos added that each country has its own specificities, but it is important that EU countries help each other. The Commissioner commented on the cooled relations between Europe and the US. She said that the built really good relations with America in the past. There are excellent examples of cultural, scientific and other relations. Today there are some concerns, tensions, which may mean that Europe needs to reorganize itself, to take better care of its security. On the other hand, there are trade problems. The European Union cannot have a ready-made solution for every crisis. The good thing about the European Union is that it always manages to find answers. Kos said that perhaps not immediately, but she firmly believes that the crisis of the last month will make the EU stronger.

HOME AFFAIRS

Trud’s frontpage story headline reads that anabolic steroids cripple young people. Websites sell muscle stimulants illegally. Police have seized BGN 500,000 worth of illegally imported muscle stimulants and sexual potency pills, the daily writes. The offers on the websites, from which any user can buy the illegal medicines, are in Bulgarian. The websites are physically located outside the country, in different countries. This also makes it difficult for the investigating authorities, because by law they cannot request information from the Internet providers.