Boyko Borisov, Bulgaria's prime minister during the past 11 years, may have many faults, his critics say, but he is without a doubt a master of the Bulgarian language. Borisov's virtuoso use of the lingo plays on many levels. His uncouth nativism enchants some domestic audiences, especially cab drivers and horsecart repairers. At the same time his obsequious promises of police cooperation endears his Western counterparts.
1. Which river passes by Sofia?
A. The Iskar
B. The Danube
C. The Maritsa
2. Which Bulgarian tradition takes place on the morning of 1 July?
A. Slaughtering of home-bred pigs
B. Greeting the rising sun
C. Dancing barefoot in live coal
3. Which was the last project of Bulgaria-born artist Christo?
A. The Floating Piers
The reduced VAT on baby food will, pray God, stimulate people to have more children.
Economy Minister Emil Karanikolov
The General Prosecution Office's reluctance to take in the many flagrant scandals and signals for huge corruption and theft of public money is a sign of fear and dependencies.
President Rumen Radev
Democracy is for disciplined people.
Prime Minister Boyko Borisov
Every Bulgarian knows it used to be the capital of the medieval kingdom of the Bulgarians just before the Ottomans invaded, in the late 14th century. It is now the home to a large university, many cafés and restaurants, and a reconstructed fortress commanding stupendous views for miles around.
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Covid-19 is like a cuckold. Some people are. Others will be. Yet others never realise they have been.
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Quarantine is a demo version of retirement. There is no money. And there is nothing to do.
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The Prime Minister told me: 'If I were a woman, I would knock it off with you'.
Epidemiologist Dr Atanas Mangarov, who has opposed the lockdown measures
Culture is a whim of luxury. When the world has stopped working, how can we be concerned with culture?
Vezhdi Rashidov, former GERB culture minister
You have the rare chance to be governed by us. Under President Radev, people would have been dying.
It was in fact paid for by a Turk who bought out hay from the locals only to sell it back to them at a significant profit. Being Muslim, he commissioned the bridge to be built entirely in the Ottoman tradition, with red and yellow decorative stripes, spawning the moniker Colourful Bridge.
The lions came around the turn of the 20th century when the bridge was rebuilt with significant modifications. It is now one of the symbols of the city it is in.
1. What are the colours of the Bulgarian national flag?
A. White, green, red
B. Yellow, blue, red
C. White, blue, red
2. Bulgarians believed that on St John's Day, 24 June...
A. Stars fall from the sky
B. Vampires roam
C. Healing herbs become stronger
3. Which Bulgarian city was dubbed Little Vienna for its architecture?
I think of myself as a tool in the hands of God.
Chief Prosecutor Ivan Geshev
Current punishment is severe, but we will make it more severe.
Justice Minister Daniel Kirilov on changes in Penalty Law for DUI
We cannot just start throwing money out of a helicopter over Central Sofia.
Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov
For some time we can go without freedom of speech.
One of these traits, the Bulgarian inimitable propensity to make a hash of things because someone, somewhere did not understand what was going on, and as a result suddenly hurdled themselves in blissful yet innocent astonishment, made the rounds in the sunset days of Communism when this country was supposed to start manufacturing... personal computers. The joke went on something like that: "It has transpired that the computers we were supposed to export to Japan turned out not to be computers but compotes. And we didn't export to Japan, but Japan sent them back to us."