site.btaMedia Review: July 24

The second reading of the draft state budget for 2026  and Parliament’s decision to authorize the deployment of US aerial refuelling aircraft at Bezmer Air Base dominate Friday’s news media.

POLITICS

Under the headline “With One Foot Out: Bulgaria’s Geopolitical Change under Radev,” Mediapool.bg writes that with his latest actions, Prime Minister Rumen Radev is trying to maintain his tenuous position: to refuse military support for Ukraine (by taking Bulgaria out of the Coalition of the Willing, despite previous parliamentary decisions), while justifying logistical assistance for US military operations in the Middle East (by transferring the decision on the US request for usage of Bezmer Air Base to the National Assembly, distributing political responsibility and limiting his personal one). In this way, he seeks to preserve US security guarantees without, at the same time, binding Bulgaria to the evolving European security architecture. These decisions reveal an increasing inconsistency in Bulgaria’s strategic position. Sofia is distancing itself from European efforts to support Ukraine and strengthen its own defence, while at the same time cooperating with Washington’s military operations in the Middle East. Instead of adhering to the prevailing pro-European consensus and the growing anti-US sentiment in Bulgarian society, Radev is attempting to strike a balance between different security models without giving sufficient consideration to European strategic interests, Mediapool’s analysis reads.

On Bulgarian National Radio, political scientist Ivo Indzhov commented on Radev’s position on the deployment of US Boeing KC-135 aerial refuelling aircraft at Bezmer Air Base. According to Inzdhov, Radev’s behaviour is highly contradictory with elements of demagogy, because during his election campaign, Radev said those aircraft [stationed at Sofia Airport at the time] were a threat to Bulgaria as they refuel the US fighter jets bombing Iran, while now he claims they are good for national security. The situation is similar on the topic of Rheinmetall and the construction of a gunpowder factory in the central village of Iganovo: when the previous government reached an agreement with the German company, Radev - then president - praised the new investor coming to Bulgaria, but now his Cabinet says the State lacks the millions of euro needed for the project. Indzhov described the Government’s latest actions as very pro-Trump.

On bTV's morning show, political scientist Tsvetanka Andreeva and sociologists Elena Darieva and Kancho Stoychev commented on the deployment of US tanker aircraft at Bezmer Air Base. They agreed that the main reasons for the tension surrounding Parliament's decision to authorize the deployment are a lack of sufficiently clear communication, mounting public fears, and the issue’s strong politicization. According to Darieva, the Government did not explain in a timely and sufficiently clear manner how the decision was made, what its objectives are, and what security safeguards have been put in place. The lack of communication has contributed to the high public tension and people fearing that the area could become a military target. Stoychev argued that the local residents’ concerns are entirely understandable since military equipment is being deployed when they want peace. The sociologist disagreed with claims that the Government had advocated neutrality or cast doubt on Bulgaria’s membership in the European Union and NATO. According to him, the position is clear - Bulgaria remains a loyal ally but does not wish to be directly involved in a war. Separately, MP of Democratic Bulgaria Bozhidar Bozhanov commented: "Everyone knows this [the US requesting the deployment and Parliament authorizing it] is not a deal. The Americans told them [the Government], 'If you do not let them [the aircraft] in, there will be no fuel [from the US-sanctioned Lukoil].”

Segabg.com writes that the Government of Rumen Radev is trying to take advantage of Ukraine in order to obtain 14 Polish MiG-29 fighter jets, so that they can have spare parts and resources to modernize Bulgaria’s Soviet-era aircraft. Poland has received a request from an unnamed NATO country regarding the MiG-29 fighter jets previously promised to Ukraine. In an interview with RMF24, Polish Secretary of State at the Ministry of National Defence Paweł Zalewski that they are currently analyzing how to reconcile Ukraine’s interests with those of said NATO ally. He declined to answer a question about whether Bulgaria was involved. However, only two NATO countries operate MiG-29s - Poland and Bulgaria. The Bulgarian Ministry of Defence responded nearly a day after Zalewski’s statements, announcing that it is not conducting negotiations to purchase MiG-29s from Poland. The Ministry did so not through an official statement but via the Bulgarian News Agency and did not address the question of whether it intends to use components from the Polish fighter jets in question as spare parts and for the repair of Bulgaria’s MiG-29s - which is the main implication. Prime Minister Radev himself made it clear that Bulgaria relies on repairs and spare parts from Poland through his special meeting with the Polish State-owned aircraft repair enterprise WZL No. 2, which Sega reported on two weeks ago. A government statement at the time made it clear that “the Prime Minister thanked Poland for the long-standing partnership and professionalism in repairing and servicing Bulgaria's MiG-29 fighter jets." Radev underscored that the company's contribution is of particular significance for maintaining the operational capabilities of the Bulgarian Air Force.

ECONOMY

Trud reports on its front page that under the 2026 State Budget Bill being debated at second reading in Parliament, ministers and heads of state agencies and commissions will not receive bonuses until the end of the year. Single-person state bodies, their deputies, and the chairs, deputy chairs, and members of collegial state bodies will not receive additional compensation for performance, according to the text of the budget proposed by the Council of Ministers. Typically, the state administration distributes quarterly bonuses based on the performance of each individual employee. It is traditional to distribute Christmas bonuses in December, but this year there will be no such additional payments for ministers and agency heads. The goal is to save money from the state treasury. For ordinary civil servants, whether there will be Christmas bonuses depends on the availability of funds in the relevant budget. But this year, if there are any bonuses at all, their amount will be limited, the article reads.

Telegraph has a three-page article about the draft budget, putting an emphasis on how the new public debt will reach EUR 10.1 billion.

The Bulgarian National Television’s morning show focuses on the two-day parliamentary debate on the 2026 State Budget Bill. Georgi Angelov, a senior economist at the Open Society Institute, and economist Vanya Grigorova from the Sofia Municipal Council commented on the bill’s effects if adopted conclusively with a deficit of 5.7%. According to Grigorova, Progressive Bulgaria’s policy will become clearer when they propose a draft state budget for 2027; now they should be shown leniency. Angelov noted that the situation is bad: “The longer this excessive deficit persists, the longer we will have hyperinflation, which erodes our purchasing power. In that sense, I do not understand why the reforms had to be delayed so much, why we had to postpone them until the next budget.”

Also on Bulgarian National Television’s morning show, Prof. Maria Pirgova, political scientist, and political analyst Georgi Harizanov commented on the heated political reactions to the draft state budget. According to Prof. Pirgova, these should not be labelled as scandals but differences of opinion, which is normal for politics. “It is only natural for the opposition not to accept a decision by those in power, because they believe that if they were in power, they would do something much better - but they need to prove this with arguments, with figures, with numbers, which is very rarely the case. Or the opposition only agrees based on the broadest figures – ‘there should not be a 5.7% deficit, yes, we are well over 3%’ - but they cannot show how it should be done,” she argued. Harizanov commented that it is easy to label everything as scandalous; what is actually happening is a heated and very good debate. In his words, what becomes obvious from it is that many of the numbers in the 2026 State Budget Bill cannot be explained by the power holders: "They do not know them well, they are not prepared; it is clear that they do not understand why they wrote down certain numbers, why certain amounts - note, tens of millions of euro - do not match up, are either repeated or missing."

On Nova TV's morning show, Union for Economic Initiative Executive Director Mihail Krastev said that there is nothing surprising about the fact that inflation in Bulgaria is higher than the EU-average. He explained that inflation is generated in two ways - through an increase in the money supply (income, lending, debt issuance) and through consumption. Over the past five to six years, the State has been doing everything possible to stimulate consumption of various goods and services, regardless of the economic situation Bulgaria finds itself in. Financial expert Nikola Filipov commented that when you raise pay levels in the public sector, they generate deficits, which in turn are financed by issuing new debt. “This is a vicious cycle that must be broken. We are already seeing steps in this direction, and hopefully these reforms will continue in the 2027 budget,” he said.

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Capital Weekly has an interview with Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Bulgaria Dong-bae Kim, who talks about the bilateral economic relations. He believes these could be deepened, and the project for two new units at the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) is the most important to that end. In his words, the project is of exceptional importance in three respects: it will be the largest energy infrastructure project in Bulgaria,  the most important bilateral initiative between the Republic of Korea and Bulgaria, and  the first trilateral project of its kind between the Republic of Korea, Bulgaria, and the United States. "Hyundai Engineering & Construction is currently actively involved in the project, but a decision on the extension of the engineering services contract has yet to be made. We hope that next year the main contract for engineering, procurement, and construction will be signed. However, there are still a number of procedures that need to be completed, especially following the formation of the new Bulgarian government," he notes. “It is important that we not waste time, since the project’s implementation is expected to continue until around 2034–2035 due to the lengthy construction period. I am confident that the Government will accelerate the necessary steps for this important project and will continue to treat it as a priority,” the Ambassador tells Capital Weekly.

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24 Chasa presents on its front page the idea of Union of Secondary School Principals Chairman Asen Alexandrov that the school year should start earlier by several days and end around July 2. A flexible calendar - with the start and end of the school year varying - would allow for the consolidation of days off during the school year so that school breaks around official holidays are not interrupted, he proposes. "Instead of alternating between a day of school, a day off, and a ‘bridge’ day, we combine these days into one and create real, connected breaks," Alexandrov explains. The start of the first semester should be no earlier than September 12 (instead of the current September 15), and the second semester should end no later than July 2 for pupils in grades 7 through 11, June 2 for the youngest pupils, and June 17 for those in grades 4 through 6. "This way, we gain 2 to 5 days - exactly what is needed to comply with the regulations," he argues. The required numbers of school weeks for each grade cannot be changed; the idea is not for children to study less, Alexandrov clarifies. 

In an interview with Trud, University of National and World Economy (UNWE) Rector Dimitar Dimitrov talks about the Council of Rectors, its functions, and rules of operation following the recent controversy over its leadership due to the existence of a non-governmental Council of Rectors in addition to the Council established under the Higher Education Act. He argues that Bulgaria needs both strong research universities and higher education institutions with a clearly expressed educational and regional mission. In his words, 98% of those graduating from UNWE find jobs in their field of study. 

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Capital Weekly’s Friday print issue is headlined, “Life at 40C”. Nine pages of the weekly look at urban life at 40C and how a city should operate on such days. The recent heat waves in Europe show Bulgaria could learn from Western cities, which are taking speedy measures against the issue. Instead of the news channels just telling people a red weather alert for dangerous heat has been issued, and institutions advising them to stay indoors and drink more water, the red alert should activate a regime prepared in advance. For example, there should be public buildings with air conditioning where people can escape from the extreme weather (the so-called climate refuges), drinking fountains or bottled water distribution at the hottest locations in the city, provision of temporary shade where a natural one is missing, and public transport with working air conditioning. Not all f these measures require a big budget and a lot of time to implement; it is enough for someone to take responsibility, prepare the measures in advance and implement them in time. In the long term, the design of public spaces in cities should take heat waves into account, Capital Weekly writes. Separate articles look at the health cost of heat waves in Bulgaria and how NATO and the EU treat climate change as a security threat.

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24 Chasa has an interview with cardiologist Prof. Arman Postadzhiyan, Deputy Dean of Medical University Sofia, who notes that LDL cholesterol should be below 2.6 but the mass of Bulgarians live with levels of 3.2. With these higher levels, hospitals typically admit patients during their first cardiac event. For patients who have had a heart attack, the target for LDL cholesterol is below 1.4. The trend toward younger patients with cardiovascular disease in Bulgaria is alarming, he tells the daily, adding that his youngest patient with severe coronary artery disease was only 16 years old. When a doctor relies on intuition rather than risk scales, they make mistakes. Treatment “at my discretion” and incorrect medication dosing leave thousands of patients far from safe levels, Prof. Postadzhiyan says in the interview.

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Telegraph has an interview with Sofia Municipal Council Chairman Tsvetomir Petrov, who says that a suitable location is being sought for the construction of a new national stadium. In addition, there are plans to build four new ski lifts on Vitosha Mountain to make the mountain more accessible to Sofia residents and visitors to the capital.