100 posts
Russia behind shale gas protests in Bulgaria
Today Bulgarians have witnessed concrete examples of Gazprom´s - and probably also the Russian intelligence service´s - efforts to prevent the American-led shale gas revolution from reaching Europe: Approximately 1,000 people have gather...
A Schengen plan for Bulgaria and Romania
Later this week the European Commission will put forward its plan to reform the passport-free Schengen area, as we detailed in our paper edition some weeks ago, and again today. But its proposals won’t address what to do about Bulgaria …Conti...
Bulgaria to enshrine satrapy
Euractive are flagging up (thanks vihargg) a turning point for Bulgaria as a nation.EU newcomer Bulgaria became the first country to try to adopt internally a series of measures emulating the EU 'Competitiveness Pact' proposed by France and Germany,...
The (Un)Importance of the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism
The new set of reports under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) for Bulgaria and Romania were published by the Commission. The mechanism is used by the Commission to monitor the progress of both countries in the fields of judicial ̷...
Romania and Bulgaria, the R&B countries
We were already familiar with PIGS, that is, the faltering and overspending Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain. Now here is a new acronym. People from the inner circle of Former Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn say he used to call Romania and Bulgar...
Schengen Wars
After France and Germany sent a letter to the EU opposing the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen zone (a decision each Schengen member state has a veto on), Romania has hit back with suggestions that it will delay Croatian accession (o...
What is Going on in Bulgaria, Really?
Taped conversations, published by a Bulgarian newspaper, allegedly expose a cover-up of smuggling schemes by the Bulgarian Minister of the Interior, Tzvetan Tzvetanov. The full transcripts of the tapes reveal pressure on part of Tsvetanov on Customs...
The State of the Media in Europe: Hungary and Bulgaria
An update on the state of the media in Europe with a special focus on the cases of Hungary and Bulgaria No related posts.
Why they're cheering for Dilma in Sofia
Bulgaria celebrates the election of Brazil's new president...
The Shape of Bulgarian Things to Come
As the IMF say in their most recent staff report on the country, the aftermath of the recent severe economic crisis leaves us with the question as to whether potential output growth in Bulgaria in the years to come is going to be markedly lower than...
On the Conflict between the Bulgarian Government and the Bulgarian Judiciary
A lot can and should be said on the problems of the Bulgarian judiciary system. But the recent attacks by the Bulgarian government against the Bulgarian courts in particular may prove to be really harmful. The courts have a very … Continue read...
Bulgarian Blog Version Now Functional
The Bulgarian version of the European Union Law blog was suspended by WordPress for a little over 24h. Now the blog functions normally. I apologize for any inconvenience. I still haven’t understood what was the reason for its suspension.
Bulgarian Blog Version Suspended // Българската версия на блога е спряна
The Bulgarian version of European Union Law blog has been suspended by WordPress yesterday. I still do not know why this was done. I will get back to you when I receive any information from the WordPress support team. Българската … C...
The Bulgarian Problem of the European Union
The European Union has a big problem with Bulgaria, and may not know it. Here is why. The purpose of the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) is to investigate the ways in which young people are prepared to undertake their roles...
In praise of Bulgarian journalists
Last month it was revealed, that the daughter and the wife of the responsible Bulgarian minister at the time were amongst the top-recipients of EU farmsubsidies. Subsidies that were administrated by the very same minister. €700.000 to the daughter...
Bulgaria – the Poorest EU Member State
This is not hot news, but in case you had doubts – Bulgaria IS the poorest country in the European Union, based on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per inhabitant expressed in Purchasing Power Standards (PPS). We’re poorer than Croatia, Montenegro an...
There is something splendidly 18th Century about this
Rhineland-Palatinate Minister President forecasts rise in German investments in BulgariaThough I suspect he is just being nice. I cannot imagine that there will be too much of this going on in the near future. It appears it is not just the UK that se...
Bulgaria: Rule of Law or a Police State?
There is an interesting article by Vesslein Zhelev in WAZ.EUobserver.com talking about the present state of Bulgarian democracy. It is probably one-sided, but asks important questions.
Bulgaria's missing diaspora
Bulgaria's most famous public figures live abroad. Why?
Bulgarian Energy Policy: Tilting Toward National Interest
SOFIA — Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov announced last Friday that his government cancelled the Burgas–Alexandroupolis oil pipeline project and suspended the Belene nuclear power plant construction. That statement was linked by local a...
Dreadful populism
The Maltese EU| Commissioner John Dalli is all hot and bothered at the intrangisant attitude of the Bulgarians,“It is a pity that the Bulgarian cabinet has taken such a decision, being apparently driven by populist reasons. I personally would have...
EMU convergence programme Bulgaria
On 26 April 2010 the Council examined the updated convergence programme of Bulgaria, which covers the period 2009 to 2012: COUNCIL OPINION on the updated convergence programme of Bulgaria, 2009-2012; published OJEU 27.5.2010 C 137/12. The Council o...
The nicest Bulgarian holiday – 24 May
Congratulations to all the Bulgarians for the Bulgarian Education and Culture, and Slavic Script Day! On this day, I was among my compatriots in Brussels to celebrate this most beautiful of our Bulgarian holidays. I had the honour to hand the diplo...
New Bulgarian Special Criminal Court?
There are news that the government is planning to introduce new, specialized courts for money laundering, kidnapping, human trafficking, organized criminal groups, EU funds fraud. So far, so good. But the government introduced its plans to a very sma...
A Snapshot of Human Rights Protection in Bulgaria
The US State Department has issued its 2009 Human Rights Report. The section about Bulgaria has some interesting findings. The report reviews the performance of Bulgaria in various human rights categories. The main conclusions are that there were pro...
No Cancer Drugs for Bulgarian Kids
I became recently aware of a really worrying problem: it appears that the Bulgarian National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) has stopped the delivery of some drugs against cancer for children under 18 years. Let me repeat: we don’t deliver some drugs...
Bulgarian Government Skeptical on South Stream Project
Gazprom CEO Aleksei Miller held talks in Sofia on February 16 “to activate work on the South Stream project in Bulgaria”. Bulgaria is the country most pivotal to South Stream. The pipeline is planned to run from Russia across the Black Se...
On the Benchmarks for Reform and Bulgarian Organized Crime
There is an ongoing crackdown on organized crime in Bulgaria. This should be good news. But the prosecution will have to prove allegations in court. The benchmark is judgments with res judicata. There’s also the Bulgarian Supreme Judicial Counc...
Jeleva quits
Breaking news! (to me, at least) NYTimes.com Bulgarian Drops Candidacy for European Commission (January 19,...
Few whiffs of Bulgarian doo-doo as Barroso forms new Commission
There are some who say the forced withdrawal of Rumiana Jeleva as Bulgaria’s candidate for the European Commission on Tuesday was a blow to Commission president José Manuel Barroso. After all, didn’t Barroso make public a letter in s...
So Minister Jeleva is gone
It seemed so boring... Dozens of Commissioners appeared in front of the parliamentary committees and were repeating nice briefings prepared by the Commission staff. Some had even some charisma: I mean Mr Oettinger, Ms Hedegaard. But still after the n...
Kristalina Georgieva – the New Bulgarian Commissioner Designate?
Rumiana Jeleva has withdrawn her candidature for commissioner on international cooperation, humanitarian aid and crisis response. Kristalina Georgieva – a vice-president of the World Bank, may be the new commissioner designate. In any case the appr...
Bulgarian Commissioner-Designate Jeleva not right for the Job
The European Parliament may be about to ask Barroso to reconsider one of the Commissioners-Designate. The Designate in question is the Bulgarian nominee, an EPP candidate from Bulgaria called Rumiana Jeleva. Her portfolio was to be International...
The Hearing of Rumiana Jeleva – the Facts
Yesterday I observed with great care the hearing of commissioner designate Rumiana Jeleva in the Development Committee of the European Parliament (you can watch the record online here; a summary is available here). The hearing can be divided in two t...
Bulgarian Customs Explain Everything with EU Regulation
There was a ripple of discontent in Bulgaria over a recent change in customs rules that requires to pay VAT for import of goods over 15 EUR. A Bulgarian journalist, Elenko Elenkov, described in an article how he had to wait for 4 hours at the Bulgari...
Approval Vote Can Be Postponed over Jeleva?
Euractiv reports that according to a source in the group of the Alliance for the Liberals and Democrats in Europe (ALDE) in the European Parliament has said that if Bulgarian commissioner designate Rumiana Jeleva were to seem problematic following th...
Bulgaria Retreats from Comments on Turkey
In what has become a fashion, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has distanced himself from earlier comments by the minister for Bulgarians abroad, Bojidar Dimitrov. Dimitrov said that Bulgaria could block the accession negotiations with Turkey o...
Journalist’s Murder: Bulgaria Must Put Its House In Order
Tuesday’s murder of Bobi Tsankov, a young Bulgarian journalist who wrote about his country’s over-mighty gangsters, took place in broad daylight in a crowded street in the centre of Sofia. As a statement about the power of organised c...
Bulgaria Blocks Turkish Accession over Compensation?
EUobserver reports that Bojidar Dimitrov, minister without portfolio who runs the country’s Agency for Bulgarians Abroad, has said that “one of the three conditions of Turkey’s full membership of the EU is solving the problem of the rea...
Rumiana Jeleva vs Die Welt
The German “Die Welt” says that that the current Bulgarian Foreign Minister and commissioner designate, Rumiana Jeleva, has made a staggering career but describes her husband as a member of the mafia. Mrs. Jeleva says that she will sue the newspa...
Déjà vu – the Bulgarian Idea for Referendum on Turkish News
I am in a state of déjà vu – after the Swiss referendum on the ban of minarets, now we have an idea for a national referendum on whether to continue allowing the broadcast of Turkish language news on Bulgarian national television. Just as for the...
Bulgarian Plan for Restructuring of Steel Plant Failed
The European Commission has found that the Bulgarian steel producer Kremikovtzi did not implement the business plan established for its restructuring, which had been agreed by the Commission in 2006 on the basis of a special steel protocol to the Eur...
Problems with the Hearings for Bulgarian Commissioner?
Dnevnik reports that Joseph Daul has acknowledged that there will be “problems” during the hearings for the Bulgarian commissioner designate, Rumiana Jeleva. Daul has said that the EPP is in a difficult position due to the “gossips” about Jel...
The Bulgarian Interface for Abuse of Human Rights
The Bulgarian Electronic Communications Act is about to be amended. The amendment will provide unlimited, direct access to the personal data of Bulgarian users of Internet and telecommunication services for the Ministry of Interior. This data will be...
Bulgaria: US, Russia Relations Revisited Via Pipeline Politics
Having visited Washington and New York a couple of times in the last months Rumiana Jeleva, Bulgaria’s Foreign Minister and now Europe’s potential European Commission Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis...
Stoyan Baltov and the Hopelessness of Bulgarian Youth
Stoyan Baltov is dead. He was beaten to death on this day, December 5th, 2008 in front of a disco club in Sofia. His death prompted a series of protests that climaxed on January, 14th 2009. On this date police dispersed the protestеrs in front of th...
On video: The Bulgarian Commission candidate Rumiana Jeleva
The Bulgarian Commission candidate, foreign minister Rumania Jeleva, sat down with New Europe editor-in-chief Alexandro Koronakis to speak about her career, her opinion on the van Rompuy/Ashton ticket, women in the Commission, and the future of the N...
Bulgaria, Romania and Greece Most Corrupt in the EU
Bulgaria, Romania and Greece were at the bottom of the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index 2009 for the European Union. Denmark leads the index, followed by Sweden and Finland. Estonia and Slovenia are the least corrupt from the E...
Remembering Communism
There are only two forces in the world, the sword and the spirit. In the long run the sword will always be conquered by the spirit. Napoleon Bonaparte Twenty years ago on that day the Berlin Wall fell down. This was the beginning of the end of...
Commission Reports on EU Funds in Bulgaria and Romania
We now have the European Commission reports on the status of implementation of EU funds in Bulgaria and Romania until 31 July 2009. Bulgaria has received 488 million Euro out of the total 1,36 billion Euro allocation for 2004-2006 – or a 36% succes...
Bulgaria Out of South Stream Pipeline?
Russian newspaper Kommersant says that Bulgaria was “kicked off” from the South Stream natural gas pipeline project and replaced by Turkey. The Bulgarian Energy Holding denies the information.
Repairing the Bulgarian Judiciary – Mission Impossible?
Three members of the Bulgarian Supreme Judicial Council – Stoyko Stoev, Ivan Dimov and Plamen Stoilov, have been accused in corruption and trade in official posts in the Bulgarian judiciary system. Members of the formers Bulgarian king Simeon
What Commission Porftolio for Rumiana Jeleva?
Bulgarian foreign minister Rumiana Jeleva is the Bulgarian candidacy for commissioner at the European Commission. Prime Minister Boyko Borisov announced that the Bulgarian government is negotiating for the energy portfolio in the next Commission. Thi...
Doing Business in Bulgaria: 2010 Report
We now have the Doing Business 2010 report for Bulgaria, issued by the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation. It is important, because it shows, among other things, the regulatory dynamic and the implementation practice of various lega...
Bulgarian Prosecution Denies Police Brutality during January Protests
The Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office has declined to initiate a formal investigation against police officers for the severe suppression of the protest in front of the Bulgarian Parliament on 14 January 2009. I could not disagree more with this conclu...
Member States Demand Sanctions for Bulgaria and Romania
The spokesman of the European Commission has reportedly said that some Member States have demanded sanctions for Bulgaria and Romania due to failed fight against corruption and misuse of EU funds. This is not news for me, but we still need to see any...
What Minimum Wage, What Directive???
This should be a misunderstanding. The leader of one of the Bulgarian trade unions – Jeliazko Hristov, has said that “the European directives are clear – the minimum wage should be at least 60% of the average wage”. I would really like to see...
Political Influence on the Bulgarian Judiciary?
Bulgaria’s new Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov has sided with the five anti-mafia policemen, who were sentenced to 82 years in jail for allegedly killing 38-year-old Angel Dimitrov, saying they did not act deliberately. He also said that he...
Regular Report under the Co-operation and Verification Mechanism
The European Commission has published its regular annual reports under the Co-operation and Verification Mechanism for Bulgaria and Romania. The report for Bulgaria includes an assessment on meeting the indicative benchmarks for justice and home affa...
Bulgaria May Fall under Russian Influence
A report obtained by the Financial Times says that Bulgaria is at risk of falling under Russian political and economic influence unless Brussels works more effectively with Sofia. The report was written by the six-member advisory board of the Stanish...
Quo Vadis, Bulgarian Judiciary???
Two events have further shaken my confidence in the Bulgarian judiciary system. First, the case for the murder of Bulgarian student Stoyan Baltov was referred yesterday by the Sofia City Court back to the prosecution for further investigation because...
EC Report on Bulgaria: Leaks
Dnevnik reports that the main message of the draft CVM report of the European Commission for Bulgaria is that there is lack of political will and consensus to support the fight against corruption and organized crime. The draft report makes a direct l...
Bulgaria May Freeze South Stream Project
Euractiv reports, that some Russian experts expect the new Bulgarian government lead by Boyko Borissov to freeze work on the South Stream gas pipeline project sponsored by Russia. This comes after the signing of the rival Nabucco project, backed by t...
Cliff Hanging In Bulgaria
The International Monetary Fund this week forecast the recession in Bulgaria would be deeper than it previously predicted. Such a decision should come as no surprise to anyone, since the country’s economic dynamics in both the short and long te...
Bulgaria's 'Batman' Prime Minister
The country elects a former bodyguard with a love of drama and action but little political experience.
OLAF: Bulgarian Criminals Are Dancing Around
Franz-Hermann Brüner, director general of OLAF, said during the presentation of the annual report of the anti-fraud office that “Some criminals are still dancing around us and the Bulgarian government, and I don’t like it.” Accordi...
The incoming Bulgarian government’s agenda
(Note: Dr. Ognyan Minchev is the Executive Director of the Institute for Regional and International Studies in Sofia, Bulgaria.) SOFIA — Elitist socialists and liberal intellectuals look down upon GERB leader Boyko Borisov with ill contained c...
Context: Bulgaria’s July 5 General Elections
(Note: Dr. Ognyan Minchev is the Executive Director of the Institute for Regional and International Studies in Sofia, Bulgaria.) SOFIA — An unexpectedly high turnout of more than 60 percent has swept away the governing “Triple Coalition&...
Opposition takes Bulgarian elections
Bulgaria' ruling Socialists have suffered a resounding defeat in parliamentary elections, but the jubilant centre-right opposition will still need coalition partners to form a new government. READ MORE...
Kuneva Not a Commissioner?
Euractiv reports that the winner in the parliamentary elections in Bulgaria Boyko Borissov, has said yesterday that current Bulgarian EU Commissioner Meglena Kuneva will be a member of the European Parliament, not a commissioner. Euractiv says that B...
A bit of Balkan kabuki
The Bulgarians arrested Agim Ceku last week! But then, after a couple of days, they let him go. Serbia is upset. Who is Agim Ceku, and why should you care? Well, Agim Ceku is a very important Kosovar Albanian. He was an officer in the Yugoslav arm...
Dutch Government Considers Safeguard Clause for Bulgaria and Romania
Dutch Minister of European Affairs Frans Timermans has asked the Justice Commissioner Jacques Barrot to consider the possible activation of the safeguard clause for the judiciary together with the forthcoming publication of the CVM report on Romania...
Experiencing the communist past of Bulgaria
For those of you who prefer a travel experience that offers insight and activities which are not covered by traditional guide books and tour offers, the newly developed Communism Tours in Bulgaria might just be what you are looking for. ![communism...
Bulgarian EP election campaigns explode in Internet [Boyan Yurukov]
In the last few weeks we can see something amazing going on in the Bulgarian web - all parties, big and small, are rushing to get a bigger slice of the Internet voter pie. They were quick to realize how much further their message would reach by simpl...
Bulgaria Is Depopulating
A concise report by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office shows that Bulgaria has the worst demographic deficit, and the population is declining quickly. The mortality in Bulgaria is highest in the EU, births are among the lowest, and there is net...
has ganley run out of cash? Libertas fail to pay the 50K needed to run in Bulgaria
Libertas branch in Bulgaria denied EP election registration Posted by Hristo HRISTOV May 13th, 2009 | 3 responses Coalition “Libertas-free citizens” have been denied registration for the European Parliament elections by the Bulgarian Central El...
Libertas branch in Bulgaria denied EP election registration [Hristo HRISTOV]
Coalition “Libertas-free citizens” have been denied registration for the European Parliament elections by the Bulgarian Central Electoral Commission. The coalition submitted its documents for registration yesterday (May 13th) just minutes...
Vote rigging: the Bulgarian know-how [Hristo HRISTOV]
“Exitus acta probat” - Roman proverb Ancient Rome and present-day Bulgarian politics have more in common than most people think. The connection is quite simple and is explained by a simple proverb - “The ends justify the means̶...
Rule of law Monitoring: Bulgaria and Romania
There is a new publication by CEPS: “Safeguarding the Rule of Law in an Enlarged EU: The Cases of Bulgaria and Romania” by Susie Alegre, Ivanka Ivanova and Dana Denis-Smith. The report has one synthesizing section and two separate sections of fin...
Bulgarian President Vetoes New Coalition Threshold
The Bulgarian President opposed to the clause raising the coalitions’ threshold from 4% to 8%. He used his quasi-veto powers, and returned the Elections Act to Parliament. However, the temporary Parliamentary Commission on election legislation...
Dangerous last minute changes of the election law in Bulgaria [Boyan Yurukov]
At this very moment a heated discussion is being led in the Bulgarian Parliament on changes of the election law. It regulates how the next EP and Bulgarian Parliament elections are going to be done and how the votes will be counted. These attempted c...
The Bulgarian Democratic Deficit – 3
It is with utmost anxiety that I write this post. It appears that today in Bulgaria democracy is crumbling. I have three specific sets of evidence for this observation: 1. Media laws are re-written in an erroneous manner, with specific considerations...
