site.btaMedia Review: August 10

The case of the Maya drone, which on Saturday entered Bulgarian airspace from Romania and exploded about 1,000 metres from Bulgaria’s compressor station on the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline route, dominates Monday’s news media.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

On Bulgarian National Television’s morning show, Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov said it was known that the drone was a decoy-type aircraft measuring two by two metres and capable of carrying up to five kilogrammes of explosives. It was manufactured in Ukraine and costs around EUR 4,000-5,000 per unit. "We are working with our colleagues from Romania and Ukraine and expect an answer from the Ukrainian side later on Monday as to whether the drone took off from Ukrainian territory," he said. The Minister identified two possible explanations for the drone's entry into Bulgarian territory: GPS interference through jamming and problems with its control system. Bulgaria needs new systems to detect and destroy aircraft, which must be procured as quickly as possible. "We are working intensively on the SAFE mechanism to acquire such systems," the Minister said, adding that around 10 systems would be needed. 

On Bulgarian National Radio, Assoc. Prof. Velizar Shalamanov, former defence minister and security expert, commented that a thorough investigation of this incident is necessary. “In this case, I believe the Ukrainian side should also be involved, because we have an agreement with Ukraine. If there is indeed evidence that the Maya drone was manufactured in Ukraine, that does not mean with 100% certainty that it was necessarily launched from Ukraine toward our territory. On the contrary - the information from the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is that their forces did not launch a drone in the direction of Bulgaria.” Shalamanov noted that drones are weapons systems, each with a unique identification number, and every launch is logged. “Ukrainian experts could be very helpful in the investigation if they are brought in. It is possible that Russia is intercepting Ukrainian drones and using them for sabotage and information operations. No scenario should be ruled out.” He underscored that if a drone was deliberately used against Bulgaria, the risks are very high. He recalled the incident in which a NATO missile fell in Gorna Banya and the thorough investigation conducted at that time. “And now we expect such an investigation, but instead there is crude manipulation and the suggestion that there is a Ukrainian drone posing a risk to Bulgarian national security, which is hasty and highly unprofessional,” said Shalamanov.

On bTV’s morning show, former interior minister and explosives expert Valentin Radev described the incident as a breach of national security. He clarified, however, that this does not necessarily mean the country was the target of a deliberate attack. Radev commented that the security measures taken after the drone incident (increased police presence and a mobile anti-drone system) are necessary but insufficient; they raise the broader question of the country’s ability to detect and neutralize small drones. He underscored that even the new 3D radars that Bulgaria is acquiring do not automatically guarantee the detection of such small, low-flying targets. According to him, this is precisely why Bulgaria must develop not only radar surveillance but also mobile systems to counter drones. “The truth is, what other country would be able to catch it? It is a drone flying at 100 metres. No country has time to react, even if you detect it,” Radev explained.

Also on bTV’s morning show, international security expert Slavcho Velkov said that he would not describe what happened with the drone as either an incident or a serious warning regarding Bulgaria’s security, but rather as a breach of national security “in the realm we call air security” and an inability to counter this type of challenges. "If that drone had struck the compressor station, the consequences could have been unpredictable,” he added. Engineer Stayko Topalov, President of the International Drone Defense Association, commented that Border Police have an anti-drone system as well as both mobile and stationary systems. “They should do the job, but we saw that our colleagues are not prepared for such scenarios,” he noted. “The first thing that needs to be done is to create a neural network - a system with a central command and control centre focused on detecting new threats,” Topalov advised.

On Nova TV’s morning show, Vice President of the International Drone Defense Association Ivan Milanov and journalist Dimitar Stavrev commented on the drone incident. Milanov said that this drone was designed to be easily spotted and to lure the enemy. Deciding how to act in such a situation should take one minute, but Bulgaria reacted too slowly. "We react like firefighters. With all due respect to them, but they arrive on the scene when the fire is already burning. It was the same this time,” he said. “We have no idea where the drone came from or how it got here. It is unbelievable and impossible that it could have flown across the whole of Romania without anyone detecting it. We have no national defene system, nor the capability to identify and defend ourselves against drones using modern technology,” added Milanov. Stavrev commented that Bulgaria has an agreement with Greece and Romania to share information in the event of such incursions. “Why didn’t Romania detect this threat and inform us?” he asked. According to Stavrev, there is a lack of information regarding the Maya drone. “External assessments are being conducted, and based on them, it is evident that these drones have evolved in recent months. No one can say what their exact specifications are,” he noted.

Trud’s front-page story is about the Ukrainian drone Maya. The daily provides a map with information about similar incidents in Europe, noting they are increasing in number. The perpetrators of hundreds of suspicious drone flights remain unidentified. The article goes on to explain such an investigation is conducted in general and how a Ukrainian drone could reach Bulgaria.

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Segabg.com quotes a TASS interview with Yury Pilipson, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s second European department, who comments that Bulgaria’s rhetoric toward Russia and the crisis around Ukraine has become more restrained and rational since the government led by former president Rumen Radev came to power. In Pilipson's words, Sofia, prioritizing Bulgarian national interests, is making entirely reasonable appeals to the European Union to reconsider its current course toward Russia. The shift is evident from the current Bulgarian leadership’s stance toward the escalating initiatives of the so-called Coalition of the Willing. Nevertheless, it is too early to speak of a resumption of mutually beneficial Russian-Bulgarian cooperation at this stage; in the foreseeable future, this will be hindered by Sofia’s high degree of political dependence on Brussels, he notes in the interview.

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An analysis of Mediapool.bg reads that Poland is using Bulgaria as a bargaining chip in its negotiations with Ukraine over the old Soviet MiG-29 fighter jets, and this could have long-term repercussions within NATO and cast a shadow over future relations between Warsaw and Sofia. According to Poland, using Bulgaria is not a diplomatic mistake but a standard business model; however, its behaviour could also be described as short-sighted, risking its image as a predictable partner, the article reads. Thus, the MiGs have found themselves at the centre of a puzzle that has yet to be solved, but which reveals various interests and weaknesses within the Alliance. Bulgaria relies solely on the MiGs to defend its airspace, and maintaining them has become practically impossible following Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine. The only country Bulgaria can count on for assistance with the Soviet-era aircraft is Poland, but Ukraine also needs them. This has sparked a political storm in Bulgaria, where public opinion is highly sensitive to the idea of pouring millions more into outdated Soviet-era equipment. Bulgaria’s interest in the last 14 Polish MiGs was, in turn, used by Warsaw as leverage in its negotiations with Ukraine, from which it hopes to acquire drone technology. Bulgaria remains dependent on the MiGs for at least two more years, until the newly purchased F-16 fighter jets are delivered by the US.

POLITICS

In an interview with 24 Chasa, Prof. Mihail Konstantinov, a mathematician, argues that the ban on announcing election results on election day is actually a form of censorship. He believes that the reintroduction of machine voting for the presidential elections this autumn will discourage between 500,000 and 700,000 voters from going to the polling stations. He notes that in Europe, voting machines are used only in 1% of countries.  “Would you use makeup that 99% of women have either never used or thrown away after use?” Asked about Information Services processing the election results, he commented that the company currently has no competition in this field, either in practice or by law. "Once in our history, exactly 25 years ago, we made the mistake of entrusting this task to an untested economic entity, which nearly caused the processing of the 2001 presidential election results to fail. Following that near-failure, the processing was taken over by Information Services AD, and since 2003 there have been no complaints regarding the company’s work," he noted.

Trud has an interview on the same topic with Prof. Plamen Kirov, who teaches constitutional law at the St Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia. Asked whether machine voting will put a stop to the many mistakes in election day documents, Prof. Kirov notes that the technology does eliminate local violations but gives an opportunity for much more drastic and larger-scale manipulation of election results, because the machine counts votes depending on whoever tinkered with its programming product last. According to him, a new Election Code is needed because the current one has been amended too many times and it currently has meaningless and uncoordinated texts as a result of the numerous last-minute revisions. He criticizes the recent proposal by right-wing formations that the figure of the Vice President is redundant and should be removed from the Constitution, arguing that it is part of the model of division of powers adopted in 1991. In his view, constitutional changes are no longer on the agenda for political reasons – they require qualified majority, and though everyone in Parliament agrees that the last amendments were a mistake, no one is in a hurry ahead of the presidential elections to restore the President’s full powers when appointing a caretaker government. 

HOME AFFAIRS

Telegraph reports on its front page that 60 people have fallen victim to human trafficking since the beginning of the year, with 17 of the victims being minors and children, show data from the National Commission for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings requested by the daily. By comparison, the number of identified victims for the whole of last year was 89. This figure includes both Bulgarians who have been trafficked abroad and foreigners who have been trafficked from third countries into Bulgaria, the Commission specified. Since the beginning of the year, 23 people have been victims of human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation, 6 of whom are minors, and 23 have been victims of trafficking for the purpose of forced labour. The remaining reports involve coercion into begging or committing crimes. Vanya Georgieva, an expert with the Commission, said that the trend is alarming because, due to social media and the ever-evolving tools of the Internet, minors and young children remain the most vulnerable group. They can easily fall victim to trafficking, especially if they are not well-informed about the dangers the Internet poses. The Internet itself is not inherently dangerous, nor are social media platforms, but traffickers are becoming increasingly inventive, she noted. According to her, labour exploitation is increasingly on par with sexual exploitation. “This by no means implies that the number of victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation is decreasing; rather, cases of trafficking for labour exploitation and forced criminal activity are on the rise,” Georgieva added.

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Duma reports that two new laboratories for processing blood samples from drivers to test for alcohol and drug use will be opened in Plovdiv (South Central Bulgaria) and Burgas (on the Black Sea), according to a statement from the Interior Ministry's press office. Construction of a new laboratory in Varna (on the Black Sea) is also at an advanced stage, with the goal of optimizing the time required to process the samples. The daily recalls that back in June, Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev said there was lack of laboratories capable of testing drivers' blood samples for drugs and explained that, upon taking office, he was informed that such facilities would be available in 12 months. Demerdzhiev emphasized that he immediately ordered the timeline to be shortened.

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Nova TV's morning show reports that Bulgaria's first animal ambulance is now a reality. It will rescue animals in distress throughout the country completely free of charge. The ambulance was donated to the volunteer organization The Gang of the Voiceless by two of its members. The animals inside will be cared for by both members of the group and teams of specialists. Vladimira Karabova said they acquired the humanitarian ambulance from Italy.

ECONOMY

24 Chasa reports on its front page of a sharp appreciation of tomatoes, which trade between EUR 1 and 4 per kilogram depending on various factors, such as origin, variety, place of sale, and intended use. Tomato prices have increased by nearly 75% in six years, data show. A new trend are sales on social media: producers post on Facebook that they offer produce and deliver to the client’s door, but the price is usually higher. In a related article, the daily reports of a change in Bulgarians’ shopping behaviour: 89% now check prices online before going shopping, according to The State of Shopping 2026 by Shopfully.

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Telegraph has an interview with economist Rumen Galabinov, who argues that one of the main reasons for the Bulgarian government debt’s continued increase is the demographic crisis, which is one of the country’s biggest problems. The shortage of workers and the ageing population result in an ever smaller number of working Bulgarians paying for an ever growing number of pensioners and students, who only take from the system. That affects the pension, healthcare, and educational systems, and results in smaller income taxes. In the future, an increase of the social insurance contributions, health insurance, and retirement age should be considered, the expert advises.

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Capital.bg reports that the Bulgarian State Railway’s new Skoda trains will begin operating on the country’s rail lines within days. This moment is more than symbolic, because these are the first brand-new railcars acquired in 20 years. All 20 Skoda railcars, purchased with funds from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), are already in Bulgaria and are entering regular service. The remaining five units, funded under Operational Programme Transport Connectivity, are expected to arrive in the coming months. The new Skoda trains are intended to service the shortest routes - those lasting up to two hours - i.e., suburban and short regional routes, such as Sofia-Pernik, Sofia-Svoge-Mezdra, and Plovdiv-Asenovgrad. Meanwhile, the first 12 of a total of 35 Coradia Stream electric trains, manufactured by Alstom at the company’s plant in Bautzen, Germany, have successfully completed acceptance procedures in Bulgaria. Currently, ten of the trains are already here, where testing on the national railway infrastructure is continuing. They are expected to serve regional routes - trips of up to 4 hours. Capital recalls that the French company Alstom was selected as the contractor for the order to supply 35 single-deck railcars at a cost of BGN 883 million at the last minute, following several setbacks in the procurement process. Thus, all trainsets to be delivered by the end of August 2026 (apparently 12) will be fully paid for under the NRRP, while the remainder will be funded from the budget.