Issue 145

JEWISH BULGARIA EXHIBITION IN SOFIA

DimanaT — Tue, 30 Oct 2018 11:42:24 +0000

JEWISH BULGARIA EXHIBITION IN SOFIA

photography by Nelly Tomova

DimanaT Tue, 10/30/2018 - 13:42

Over 100 visitors, including diplomats, business people, members of the Jewish community, journalists and representatives of the NGO sector, attended the opening of the Jewish Bulgaria exhibition at the Culture Ministry Sredets Gallery in Sofia, on 26 September. The exhibition, consisting over about 40 large-scale photographs, explores the heritage of over 18 centuries of continuous Jewish presence in the Bulgarian lands.

The exhibition covers some of the mesmerising and atmospheric remains of Jewish heritage in Bulgaria: from the mosaics of a 2nd century synagogue in Plovdiv, to abandoned and crumbling synagogues and cemeteries, the only reminders of the Jewish presence in a number of cities where the community left, in 1949-1951.

Before Sofia, the Jewish Bulgaria exhibition by Anthony Georgieff was on in Prague and in London. The exhibition was organised with the support of the America for Bulgaria Foundation and the Embassy of Israel in Bulgaria.

Irit Lillian, Ambassador of Israel

Author Anthony Georgieff

Maksim Benvenisti, former chairman of the Shalom Organisation of Bulgarian jews

From left: Victor Schiller and Nancy Schiller, President and CEO of the America for Bulgaria Foundation, and Vagabond's Dimana Trankova

Lynn Daft, member of the ABF's Board of Directors

From left: American Ambassador Eric Rubin, Brazilian Ambassador Ana Maria Sampaio Fernandes and Irish Ambassador Mike Forbes

Desislava Taliokova, ABF

Frank Bauer, President Emeritus of the ABF

Viktor Melamed, PR and consultant

Chris Matlon, Chairman of the ABF's Board of Directors

Maria Tyropoli of the Greek Embassy

Professor Albena Taneva, Sofia University

Marshall Lee Miller, member of the ABF's Board of Directors

Philosopher Georgi Lozanov

Pam Dunn

Kennet Vander Weele, member of the ABF's Board of Directors, and Linda Vander Weele

Former foreign ministers Gergana and Solomon Passy

Michael Dunn, member of the ABF's Board of Directors

Photographer Ivo Hadzhimishev

From left: Rebecca Matlon and Marlene Miller

Lenko Lenkov, ABF

From left: Kristina Panayotova, Gergana Shkodrova, Elena Filipova and Simona Zdraveva from Vagabond Media

Boni Bonev, chairman of the Bulgarian-Swiss Chamber of Commerce

Vanya Grigorova, ABF

Issue 145

BULGARIA ART

Add new comment

THE CASE OF VIKTORIA MARINOVA

DimanaT — Thu, 25 Oct 2018 11:54:36 +0000

THE CASE OF VIKTORIA MARINOVA

text and photography by Dimana Trankova

DimanaT Thu, 10/25/2018 - 14:54

Rape, murder of journalist expose Bulgaria's deepest problems

The brutal rape and murder of an young, attractive woman has exposed this country's deep problems with government, public trust in institutions, media freedoms, racism and gender issues, and the blurred line between journalism and political activism.

What happened?

On a Sunday, while the Facebook quarrels on the quality of Central Sofia's renovation works were losing momentum, a piece of disturbing news spread over. A young woman was raped and murdered in the northern city of Ruse, in broad daylight.

The victim was 30-year-old Viktoria Marinova, a producer at a local TV station. She was assaulted and strangled while jogging in a park by the River Danube. Marinova, unknown outside her hometown, had covered mainly lifestyle issues. A new show she was going to produce would focus on current affairs. Its first, and last, run included an insert of an interview with a Bulgarian and a Romanian journalist belonging to an Internet site, Bivol (meaning Buffalo), with claims in investigative journalism. The pair had been briefly detained a couple of weeks previously by the Bulgarian police while they reportedly investigated the destruction of evidence allegedly showing that a Bulgarian construction company, GP Group, stole EU funds while working on large-scale public projects including the abovementioned reconstruction of Central Sofia.

Viktoria Marinova's brutal killing instantly became top news. Hundreds of people were quick to organise vigils in her memory in Ruse, Sofia, Plovdiv and Varna. The murder attracted global attention, too. Major news outlets like the BBC, Time, The Times, The Guardian, the CNN, The Washington Post and so on covered it. Her face was all over the social networks. EU dignitaries and politicians, foreign diplomats and UN Secretary General António Guterres expressed concern about the heinous crime, pressing the Bulgarian government for a quick and transparent investigation. The American Embassy in Sofia offered police assistance.

Several days after Marinova's death, an young man from Ruse was arrested near Hamburg, Germany. He was accused of raping and killing Marinova, possibly under the influence of alcohol and narcotics, then fleeing to Germany where his mother lived. The police had uncovered DNA evidence linking him to Marinova's corpse. He was also filmed by CCTV to be interacting with the woman in the park.

Viktoria Marinova was obviously not the first woman to be killed in Bulgaria in 2018. Her case attracted such a huge amount of international attention because of her profession. In a year that saw increased aggression against journalists all over the world, global sensitivity on the topic is high. For the Bulgarians, however, her death shed light on this nation's biggest problems and so attracted more attention and passions than usual.

Lack of trust in Bulgaria's police, persecution and judicial system

Soon after the news of the killing spread over the Internet, three details spawned suspicion that the authorities, with the help of the servile media, were putting together a coverup.

First, the crime hit the news with a day's delay. Second, the police were quick to suggest that Marinova's job was the least probable reason for the murder. And third, a number of major news outlets reported that the victim was not a journalist, but a "business woman," which in Bulgaria has strong negative connotations. Her former husband was a co-owner of the TV station she worked for and she was on its board.

The Bulgarian police and prosecution have a long history of botching investigations big and small. Instead of going to jail, convicted underworld bosses leave the country never to be seen again. Hashed forensic evidence results in failures in court. A number of high profile assassinations remain unsolved. Journalists have discovered pieces of evidence on crime scenes after forensics teams have left. Anyone who has had to report a home burglary is certain that the police will probably not do much. As a result, citizens do not bother to report crimes against themselves. According to the Interior Ministry, 45 percent of the reported crimes in 2017 were solved, a drop of 3 percent on an year earlier.

The Bulgarian lack of trust in the police is also evident in opinion polls. According to Alpha Research Polling Agency, as few as 20 percent of the Bulgarians tend to trust their police. According to the same poll, just 14 percent trust the courts.

In short, for a number of reasons Bulgarians believe that a crime investigation would most likely fail either because the police, the prosecution and the judiciary are incompetent or because they are corrupt. The former would be more probable if the victim and the perpetrator are ordinary people, while the latter is more likely in cases of wealthier and better connected felons. Owing to that, and because this is the Balkans, all kinds of conspiracy theories flourish.

In the case of Marinova, even when the alleged murderer was arrested and made a full confession a number of Bulgarians refused to accept it. They were convinced that he was either set up by the police or had been paid by someone very powerful and well-connected to make a political assassination appear like a killing.

Partisan "journalists," "opinion leaders"

As soon as Marinova's murder hit the news, social media influencers, fringe politicians and the hacks began peddling the hypothesis that she was killed because of her reporting on high-level corruption. Marinova was the first to cover the so-called GP-gate on TV, they claimed, and she planned to uncover more on corruption in Bulgaria. She was punished for breaking the omertà that binds mainstream Bulgaria media.

The reality, however, was quite different. The TV station where Marinova worked was small, with limited influence outside its broadcast area in the town of Ruse. Before the insert that supposedly caused her death was aired, a number of more prominent news outlets had covered the story. Besides, it was not Marinova who did the interview on the GP-gate in the first place. Her colleagues in Ruse spoke out that she had never been threatened before she was murdered.

The overreaction of some Bulgarian journalists that turned Marinova into a martyr for press freedoms was the result of declining media standards. Some of the most vocal Bulgarian journalists at the moment are political activists rather than reporters. They use facts selectively to fit their opinions and share them widely on the free-for-all social media.

Bulgaria is interesting to the foreign media only when something really bad happens

This country is sufficiently provincial not to generate any news on a regular basis. No terrorism or natural disasters, no oil fields, no nuclear weapons. No stunning achievements in industry or culture.

This means not only lack of coverage but also lack of expert opinion on the intricacies of Bulgarian political and public life. When something internationally newsworthy happens, the foreign media usually rely, often unquestioningly, on local hacks. What is possible often gets represented as actual fact.

Viktoria Marinova, heretofore unheard of outside her hometown, was thus represented as a famous TV reporter and an established investigative journalist murdered over her job, a Bulgarian Anna Politkovskaya.

Bulgarian media freedoms are hardly enviable. Since Boyko Borisov's GERB came to power in 2009, media freedoms have been steadily declining. At present, Bulgaria is rock bottom in the EU. Prominent and not-so-prominent journalists have lost or have been threatened to lose their jobs not only for asking the "wrong" questions and covering the "wrong" stories, but also because of their refusal to ask the "right" ones. Media ownership is at best opaque, which has turned some of the most influential media outlets into weapons for hit jobs against opponents to the owner, the government or whoever is close to the management. As advertisement revenues have declined, a number of media have become conveniently polite to the government where Boyko Borisov holds the purse of the much-desired EU advertising funds.

The situation in the media outside Sofia is even worse. In the smaller towns, including Ruse, people know one another. For local overlords it is easy to put pressure on any journalist who has dared to sniff around. As a result, most of the regional media outlets in Bulgaria have become public relations crutches to whoever Boyko Borisov has appointed to a position of power.

That is why when some colleagues of Viktoria Marinova said that she was hardly killed because of her job, few in Bulgaria believed them. They don't dare to tell the truth, the Facebook lynch mob declared.
In this environment, turning a young woman killed in a sexual crime into a whistleblowing martyr was only too easy.

Authoritarian government

The Bulgarian media does look Orwellian. The reason is that under Boyko Borisov the country has become increasingly authoritarian.

The EU does pay attention to the bad guys in Hungary and Poland, but it has spectacularly failed to take in Bulgaria where Boyko Borisov and his lieutenants have stayed on this path for much longer. In the 10 years since he came to power, Borisov has acted as a feudal chieftain who solves all problems the moment they appear. In addition to his habitual ribbon-cutting of new asphalt roads, he is seen as increasing the wages of the police, he "finds" money for the construction of sports facilities, he sends a government airplane to bring a famous actor who has fallen sick into a better hospital.

The servile media willingly make his actions into front-page news stories.

The chief reason Borisov is seen in the EU and the West as a good guy, in contrast to Viktor Orban, is because he says he is pro-EU and rarely voices any dissent.

In the wake of Marinova's murder, however, Borisov's famously warm connections with the EU's top brass turned sour. As soon as the chief suspect was identified, Bulgaria's prime minister called in 36 Western diplomats in Sofia to complain about how the foreign media had covered the killing in particular and Bulgaria in general. "I read monstrous things about Bulgaria and not a single one of those was true," he said before the meeting. "The Bulgarian media have the full freedom to say and write whatever they want," he intoned.

He also acted the way he knows best. As a former fireman turned into an overlord presiding over his fiefdom, he ordered the by now infamous GP Group to be excluded from all public projects it was involved in until it became clear whether the company had stolen EU funds. A couple of days later, the company complied and extracted itself from several public procurement deals for major infrastructure projects it had won in legitimate public tenders and bids.

The speed of Borisov's reaction in the wake of Marinova's killing was not only because of the external pressure. The journalist's murder was on the verge of becoming a rallying cry for Bulgarians disaffected with Borisov's rule. Largely, such people are apathetic and only voice their opinions on Facebook. A high-profile crime, however, could energise a critical number of citizens, and the result could be unpredictable. Borisov already saw this: in 2013 he resigned after mass protests against rising utility costs and the self-immolations of a dozen citizens.

Bulgaria's racist problem

Not all theories about who killed Viktoria Marinova were about corruption and lack of media freedoms. Long before the alleged perpetrator was arrested many, including the editor-in-chief of a leading newspaper, claimed that she was the victim of a "Gypsy crime." These claims echoed a popular sentiment among Bulgarians that the most heinous crimes could be perpetrated only by non-Bulgarians, like the Roma, whom the overwhelming majority of Bulgarians consider to be subhuman, or the Muslim immigrants.

After 1989 the Gypsy community suffered high unemployment and declining education which logically led to higher crime rates. These are mostly petty crimes, but it is petty crimes that are the most visible, particularly in small towns and villages. That is why for ordinary Bulgarians if there is a crime, it is most probably Gypsy work. The inefficiency of the police in dealing with such cases has resulted in a strong belief that Gypsy criminals enjoy special privileges and can do whatever they want, and then go unpunished.

Politicians have already exploited these sentiments. One of GERB's partners in the government, Ataka, rose to prominence in the 2000s mainly on its anti-Roma rhetoric.

Gender issues

The notion that a genuine Bulgarian is unable to rape and kill a woman has run particularly strong in aftermath of Marinova's murder.

In actual fact, Bulgarian women do get raped and killed by Bulgarian men, often in cases of domestic violence. Statistics are elusive. 2018 is the first year when the National Statistical Institute has covered violence against women. According to some data, an average of two women are killed in Bulgaria each month, mainly by their partners or other relatives.

Marinova's murder attracted a lot of compassion, but with victims of domestic abuse it is hardly the case. Domestic abuse remains largely a taboo. Bulgarians are reluctant to report it to the police, leaving the couple "to solve their own problems." The police is also ineffective in the protection of victims of domestic violence. When a woman is murdered in such circumstances, the public opinion is rarely on her side. Bulgarians are quick to blame the victim for her own death. The sentiments range from the "she must have done something to provoke such anger in him" to the "she should have left him" to "what about men suffering psychological abuse from their wives."

Earlier this year, an acrimonious campaign scared Bulgarians out of the Istanbul Convention for prevention of violence against women. The #MeToo movement has had zero resonance and effect in Bulgaria.

The more things change, the more they stay the same

Viktoria Marinova was quickly forgotten after it emerged her murder had nothing to do with the notorious Bivol site and its alleged investigations.

Global public attention shifted to the case of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi. In Bulgaria, some fingers were pointed at journalistic ethics, police efficiency, lack of trust in the institutions and Borisov's behaviour.

The Bulgarian government did not change its ways, and neither did the media. A week after Marinova's murder, the only reminder of her were the shrines made by the attendees of the vigils in her memory. Activists-cum-journalists and social media influencers busied themselves with the next scandal of the day with the same sense of infallibility and self-aggrandisement with which they had blown out of proportion the murder of the young woman and mother of a six-year-old child in Ruse. Ruse itself remained the backwater it had been when Viktoria Marinova was alive. Bivol did not apologise for using the terrible rape and murder case to stir up some publicity for itself. Investigative journalism failed to sprout.

Issue 145 Bulgarian media

BULGARIA POLITICS

Add new comment

RETURN OF RADIO FREE EUROPE

DimanaT — Thu, 25 Oct 2018 11:53:29 +0000

RETURN OF RADIO FREE EUROPE

text and photography by Anthony Georgieff

DimanaT Thu, 10/25/2018 - 14:53

Rock-bottom freedom-of-speech Bulgaria to get US-sponsored news

About 10 years after it gained membership of the EU and nine since Boyko Borisov's GERB came to power this country has made huge progress in spending EU money. However, it has plummeted in many measurable aspects of life: from life expectancy to emigration, from the fight against corruption to the fight against organised crime, and from median incomes to media freedoms. The latter has prompted the US Congress to resume funding for a news outlet to disseminate objective, balanced and non-partisan news and analysis, and facilitate unbiased debate. That outlet, to be launched in December, will be the heir of Radio Free Europe, the legendary Cold War radio that was the only voice of free information to the people of Bulgaria and elsewhere in Eastern Europe under Communism.

Radio Free Europe is scheduled to return to Bulgaria in December 2018, according to a press release issued in Washington DC. Rather than setting up a classic radio operation, the RFE management has decided to go for a multimedia Internet site called just Free Europe, or Svobdona Evropa. Among other things, it will respond to local concerns that disinformation, corruption and social division are undermining the political system. It will also amplify existing projects that promote public accountability and debunk false news.
RFE President Thomas Kent said: "We hope in particular that our coverage, carried out by local journalists, will help the growth of a free press, promote democratic values and institutions, and inform discussion in both countries of their place in NATO, the EU and other Western organisations. We look forward to partnering with local independent media and civil society."

RFE's headquarters in the building of the former Czechoslovak Parliament in Prague, 1995

Founded in 1949 by the anti-Communist National Committee for a Free Europe, the radio station, based in Munich then in West Germany, broadcast news and analysis to the Warsaw Pact countries in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. Unlike other international broadcasters at the time – the Voice of America in Washington and the World Service of the BBC in London – its main purpose was to serve as a "surrogate" news channel: providing background information, reporting on events behind the Iron Curtain and providing, as much as was technically possible in an Eastern Europe sealed off by barbed wire, a platform for free and unprejudiced public debate. It was supposed to provide the kind of news and analysis that the countries on the east bank of the Oder would have been able to produce themselves if they had had free media.

In 1976 Radio Free Europe merged with Radio Liberty, which broadcast exclusively to the constituent nations of the Soviet Union in their languages.

The RFE/RL newscasts were relentlessly jammed by the Communist governments throughout the East bloc, a situation that remained unchanged until Mikhail Gorbachev's Perestroyka in the late 1980s.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty played a significant role in bringing about the collapse of Communism in 1989. Radio Free Europe broadcasts prompted the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia. Legendary Bulgarian broadcaster Rumyana Uzunova's telephone interviews with local dissidents, including philosopher Zhelyu Zhelev, who went on to become Bulgaria's first democratically elected president, are still remembered by anyone with an interest in the history of Communism.

Former RFE manager Bob Gillette and former RFE Research Institute Director Ross Johnson attend a conference in Sofia, 2011

After the collapse of Communism in 1989, the two radio stations opened up bureaus in their target countries. Local journalists were employed to produce programmes of increasing size and complexity, and partnerships with new local media were established.

In 1993, the Clinton Administration decided to save money by closing down the two radio stations which it deemed redundant. A flurry of international activity ensued. Dignitaries including Lech Walesa in Poland and Vaclav Havel in the Czech Republic wrote letters in support of Radio Free Europe. They were joined by academics from across the globe and by a huge amount of ordinary citizens who, unlike the US Administration at the time, thought Communism was gone but democracy had not been properly established yet.

In 1995, Vaclav Havel, then President of the Czech Republic, offered to host Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in the building of the former Czechoslovak Parliament in Wenceslas Square in Central Prague which had stood empty since the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. Havel wanted the symbolic rent of 1 Czech crown per year. The United States agreed, and the whole operation, staff and studios, were moved from Munich, then in the newly United Germany, to Prague, in the then young Czech Republic.

Since the beginning of the 1990s Radio Free Europe was getting slimmed down by discontinuing some of its language services. Logically, the countries that appeared most reformed were the first to go. Broadcasts to Hungary were terminated as early as 1993, and the Polish Broadcasting Service was axed in 1997. Bulgaria and Romania were terminated in 2004.

Late President Zhelyu Zhelev speaks of the sunset days of Communism in Sofia, 2011

At present, the Prague-based Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty incorporates services to Central Asia, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and Iran. It broadcasts to a total of 20 countries in 25 languages and has an estimated listenership of 25.8 million. It employs over 600 staff in Prague and in Washington DC and runs 18 bureaus abroad providing opportunities to over 750 freelancers.

RFE journalists are on the frontlines in the fight for media freedom in their countries and often put themselves at great risk to do their jobs. Some of them have even been killed for performing their duties as journalists, most recently in Afghanistan. Their production has won a significant number of international awards.

In addition to Bulgaria, a similar Radio Free Europe service will start in Romania.

Veteran broadcaster Vladimir Kostov in Sofia, 2011

After 9/11 RFE was moved into a purpose-built new building outside the Prague City Centre. Ironically, it overlooks the New Jewish Cemetery where writer Franz Kafka, who described a totalitarian society uncannily resembling Communism, lays buried. Photo dated 2017

Issue 145 Bulgarian media

BULGARIA POLITICS

Add new comment

BULGARIA'S BEST SCENIC DRIVES

DimanaT — Thu, 25 Oct 2018 11:18:03 +0000

BULGARIA'S BEST SCENIC DRIVES

text and photography by Anthony Georgieff

DimanaT Thu, 10/25/2018 - 14:18

Anyone who has done any driving on Bulgaria's roads will be familiar with the pitfalls (pun unintended).

These include, but are not limited to, bad or non-existent asphalt, unpredictable and uncared-for potholes, confusing signage, maniacal drivers and traffic cops that contribute to the problems rather than try to solve them. Yet anyone who is even remotely interested in looking at the world from the window of a car will instantly know that driving through Bulgaria's lesser and off-the-beaten track roads is absolutely the best way to take in the natural and cultural beauties of this country and to experience a first-hand interaction with its people. We offer you our Best-Of selection of Bulgaria's scenic drives that will keep you, well, driving for weeks if not months. Please note that all of these drives will be on roads (no off-road experiences involved). All of them are easy to moderate, but will obviously require good driving skills and a bit of common sense. Happy exploring!

Troyan-Karnare Pass (Road 35)

This road starts in Troyan, in northern Bulgaria, crosses the Balkan Mountains, or Stara Planina, and ends at the village of Karnare, in southern Bulgaria. We recommend driving it north to south as in this way your lane will be next to the safety railing and will offer some unparalleled vistas at both the northern and the southern slopes of the mountain.

The road is winding and you may well get stuck behind a lorry pumping out obnoxious exhaust fumes. Instead of overtaking it, pull over and let it get ahead while you enjoy the serenity of Stara Planina.

As you approach the highest point of the road, a peak called Beklemeto, look right and you will see a small side road that may sometimes be marked with a sign. Go up, and in less than a mile it will take you right up to the top. There is a huge Communist-era monument right on top meant to commemorate a 19th century battle between the Russians and the Ottomans that in fact never happened. You can park there and walk around. In good weather the 360-degree panorama at your feet will keep you standing for hours. You may even go there at night. This is one of the best star-gazing locations in all of Bulgaria.

Iskar Gorge (Road 16)

The road along the River Iskar as it carves its way through the Balkan Mountains is a major attraction less than an hour from Sofia. It starts just beyond the northern bow of the Ring Road and initially passes through a couple of drab settlements that are more or less suburbs of the capital. The fun starts a couple of miles beyond Novi Iskar as you drive north. Endless bends will reveal various vistas at the meandering River Iskar, and you will be tempted to stop and take pictures. Be careful: lay-bys are few and far between.

The first village that you may want to break your journey in is called Thompson, which some Bulgarian official has transliterated as Tompsan. It was named after a British Second World War captain, posthumously promoted to major, Frank Thompson. Maj Thompson was parachuted to Bulgaria to liaise with the local Partizani, or guerrilla fighters, against the pro-Nazi government. He was born in Darjeeling and went to Oxford, where he befriended Iris Murdoch. Maj Thompson was captured by the tsarist gendarmerie, tortured and killed. In the middle of the village you can now see a recent monument to him erected by the British Embassy.

The road north of Tompsan passes through the town of Svoge. Beyond Svoge you will notice that the cliffs of the gorge become increasingly precipitous. Just before you enter Lakatnik, pull over by a small waterfall and a cave on your left-hand side. Go down to the river where there is a pedestrian hanging bridge and look both ways. On the western cliffs you will see a tiny, tiny little house that… hangs from the rock about 700 feet above your head. It is not an elf's house, but a shelter for rock climbers installed there in the 1930s.

Iskar Gorge at Lakatnik

Lakatnik is a climbers' paradise, and in good weather you will see dozens of enthusiasts hanging from ropes on both sides of the river.

The best views at the whole gorge are from a side track called Road 162. Turn left and drive up the road until you reach the village of Milanovo. There is a deviation there that will eventually take you to the very tip of the cliff where there is the inevitable Communist monument. The views are not for the faint hearted, but do not be afraid: it is all quite safe unless you decide to overstep the security wall.

Back along the Iskar you may wish to take yet another detour to an Orthodox Monastery called Seven Thrones.

Further up north you may be able to see a small modern sculpture of an old man looking down. This is Dyado Yotso, or Grandfather Yotso, a character invented by Ivan Vazov, the 19th century writer, who was blind but who heard the sound of the railway that was being constructed just then and claimed he could see the oncoming modernisation of Bulgaria.

There is a second, and bigger, Orthodox monastery further up north, called Cherepish Monastery. Its setting is serene, and you may wish to combine the visit with an urbex side trip to the now abandoned seminary and church just by the bed of the river.

Madzharovo-Malki Voden (Road 8081)

Starting at the village of Madzharovo, a semi-abandoned settlement that used to thrive on a now defunct mine, this road will take you along some of the most gorgeous bends of the Arda River. Stupendous cliffs will fall into the meandering Arda. Look up and you may see some strange black birds: in fact, this is a bird preserve area, the only one for vultures in Bulgaria. Numerous turns of the road and ever stupendous views will eventually take you to the village of Malki Voden, where you will join a bigger road. From there you can either go to Ivaylovgrad, on the Greek border, or to Lyubimets, near Turkey.

Tsarevo-Malko Tarnovo (Road 99)

Firewalking in Balgari village

This trip takes you from the southern Black Sea coast to the town of Malko Tarnovo, deep in the Strandzha Mountains. The road is potholed and no one seems to care, but drive carefully and you will be rewarded, especially if you go in May when you will see an abundance of blooming Black Sea Rhododendrons, a flower that is not to be found anywhere else in the world.

You will drive by a couple of villages of which Balgari merits a detour. This is the home of Bulgaria's firewalkers. Their rite is performed one day a year, on 3 June. If you go there on that day, expect huge crowds. If you go on any other day, the village will appear hardly inhabited.

Traditional houses in Malko Tarnovo

Malko Tarnovo itself is a hidden gem. The area around it is full of inspiring archaeology. There is now a tiny asphalt road that will take you right to the remains of Mishkova Niva with its Roman tomb, and you can hike up to Propada, an ancient necropolis a mile out of town. If you make the proper arrangements at the local museum you may be able to get a ride to Valchanov Most, an eerie skeleton of a stone bridge spanning the Rezovska River, which marks the border between Bulgaria and Turkey. It is now behind the notorious barbed-wire wall designed to stop intruders, so you will need both a permission and someone with a key to open the gate. The Communists dynamited the Bulgarian side of the bridge in the early 1950s to prevent Bulgarian refugees from crossing into Turkey. In these days Turkey was West.

The road to Valchanov Most Bridge

Pirdop-Karlovo (Road 6)

This drive is on the main road connecting Sofia to Burgas. Many motorists now prefer the Trakiya Highway, which goes by Plovdiv, and on which you can just swish by and be at the Black Sea coast within four hours. But if you want to take a more relaxed approach, make a few detours and… go for some Bungee jumping, Road 6 is for you.

Pirdop, an hour-and-a-half out of Sofia, is uninteresting, but as you pass by the Shell service station on your left you will be heading to some of the most picturesque ranges of the Stara Planina.

Elenska Basilica, near Pirdop

Just outside of Pirdop look for a small road on your left-hand side which may be marked with a billboard. A mile up that road will take you to the very atmospheric remains of a Roman church called Elenska Basilica. Constructed with the characteristic Roman red bricks, its ruins stand testimony to the turbulent history of this part of Europe. Try to be there at sunrise as the ruins will appear surreally through the morning mist.

A few miles south, after you've stopped for a short break in a lay-by near a roadside waterfall, there will be a deviation on your right that leads to the town of Koprivshtitsa. You will never be able to pronounce its name properly, but never mind – the locals are used to it. Koprivshtitsa is Bulgaria's best-preserved 19th century town. It was the birthplace of revolutionaries and poets, some of them known and dear to every Bulgarian. The magnificent and brightly painted mansion-style houses can be visited as many of them are now museums.

Back on Road 6, on the stretch between the deviation to Koprivshtitsa and Klisura, you will drive over several high bridges. Technically, you cannot pull over on bridges, but if you do the drive over a weekend you will see a mini-congestion on the highest of them as bungee enthusiasts use it for jumping over the precipice. Do not stop if you are scared of heights.

Eventually, the road comes down to a lower elevation and that's where the Valley of Roses begins. If you go in May, you will actually sea both the roses and the rose-pickers. And if you go in July, you will see the deep-violet lavender fields.

Just before Sopot, the first town of any size before Karlovo, there is a turn on the left that will take you to another local attraction: a rope lift reaching to a few hundred yards up the mountain. This is paragliding territory. In fair weather you will see dozens of paragliders hovering over the Valley of Roses.

Oil-bearing roses

The drive will end in Karlovo, the birthplace of Vasil Levski, Bulgaria's national hero. What remains of his modest house is a place of pilgrimage for any Bulgarian pupil. A walk through downtown Karlovo with its late-19th century houses and churches will complete your experience of one of the best drives in Bulgaria.

Rusenski Lom (Road 202, Road 501)

Few Bulgarians can imagine that the Danubian Plain, which is mainly flat, holds such a cliffy gorge as the one along the River Lom, just a few miles out of the major town of Ruse.

The environs of the Cherven Fortress

Once you've entered the village of Shtraklevo, where there is a disused airport, continue along Road 22 until Nisovo, a non-decrepit village surround by huge cliffs. There isn't much to see inside the village, but you can go for wine tasting at the local winery. What will justify your stopover at Nisovo is the old cemetery. It may be hard to find as few locals will be able to give you proper directions, but its weathered headstones, dating back probably to the 18th century, have spurred the imagination of many. At one point a notorious Bulgarian archaeologist even pronounced the graveyard as belonging to… the Knight Templars. The truth is a lot more mundane.

This is where the victims of a plague epidemic were buried.

Further on along Road 202 you will get to the village of Cherven. A magnificent and well-preserved Medieval fort sits perched on top of a hill over the village. Take in its remaining tower. Distinctly regal, it was used as the prototype of the famous Baldwin Tower at Tsarevets, in Veliko Tarnovo, when it was erected in the 1930s.

Old cemetery near Nisovo village

On Road 501 you will end up in the village of Ivanovo. This is one of the few places in Bulgaria where there is a cluster of rock churches, replete with naivist but sometimes surreal clerical frescoes. Park and walk up the path to enter a couple of them. The artwork is mesmerising, especially as you picture in your head the bearded Medieval monks who spent years carving the rock and painting it.

Mediaeval frescoes at the Ivanovo Rock Churches

Cherven Fortress near Ruse

Balgarevo-Shabla (Road 901)

In the 2000s Kavarna, where this drive starts, used to be known as Bulgaria's Capital of Rock-and-Roll, owing to an enthusiastic mayor who brought over local and Western groups for open-air concerts. A change of local leadership brought this to an end, and now Kavarna is back to its dusty and uninteresting normal. A couple of miles northeast of town, however, the fun begins.

Bolata Bay north of Cape Kaliakra

Your first stop is the village of Balgarevo, which is not very interesting, but which is the home of the Bulgarian Gagauz, an obscure minority of ethnic Turks who've adopted… Orthodox Christianity. Some of the older Gagauz still speak Turkish.

A deviation east of Balgarevo will lead you to Cape Kaliakra, a major attraction as its huge reddish cliffs fall a few hundred feet into the Black Sea. On the tip of the cape you can walk through the gates of an ancient fort, parts of which still remain. Look back to the mainland and you will see some of the most iconic sites of the northern Black Sea coast: a bay entirely formed of precipitous cliffs.

There are just three villages on Road 901, the most interesting of which is Kamen Bryag. Detour, and you will end up at the trailhead of a path going through a plateau called Yaylata. A recently built Medieval fort on it is an eyesore, but if you visit in early May you will see hundreds if not thousands of wild peonies growing by the calm waters of the Black Sea. There are a couple of interesting caves to explore in what is thought of as one of the last continental stretches of the great Eurasian steppe.

Further up north you will pass by the village of Tyulenovo. The name is suggestive – in Bulgarian it means the Village of Seals – but actual seals have not been seen around since at least the 1950s. What happened at approximately the same time is the Communist government discovered what it thought was a significant oil field just by the road. It built the infrastructure and it started extracting oil, but the fields soon ran dry and the oil turned out to be substandard. Bulgaria never became a new Kuwait, but you can see bits and pieces of industrial archaeology as you progress north along the road.

An oil drill near Tyulenovo

At one point after Tyulenovo you will see… a lighthouse emerging right in the middle of the road. This is of course an optical illusion as no one would build a lighthouse in the middle of a road. The lighthouse itself is interesting. It was erected by a French company in the 1850s when Bulgaria was still a part of the Ottoman Empire, in an effort by the High Porte to modernise its realm. You can go up right to the lighthouse but you cannot enter as the guard is under orders to tell you this is a top-secret military territory. Look carefully at the wall, and you will see the telltale personal signature of the sultan still preserved on it. So much for military secrecy.

Petrol station by the abandoned oil field near Tyulenovo village

Shipka Pass (Road 5)

For you this may be yet another Bulgarian mountain pass, but for every Bulgarian schoolboy Shipka evokes a famous poem by Ivan Vazov which describes the fierce battles between Russian Imperial forces, joined by Bulgarian volunteers, and the Ottoman Army, in 1877. The Russians won, paving the way to victory in the 1877-1878 war, one of the results of which was Bulgaria's restoration.

Old guns dot the environs of the Shipka Pass, reminder of the fierce battles that took place there in 1877

At the southern trailhead of the pass, in the village of Shipka north of Kazanlak, there sits the magnificent Russian Church erected to commemorate the fallen Russians. It was built in the early 20th century and was run by Russian emigres, but ownership was transferred to the USSR after the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution. In the 1930s Stalin granted the ownership rights to the Kingdom of Bulgaria on condition that… no Russian emigres would be included in its governing board.

What lies ahead of you is a winding road gaining about 5,000 feet in elevation all the way to the ridge of the Stara Planina. From there there is a side daytime-only road that can take you up to the very top. 360-degree panorama views will leave you stunned. On top of the hill there is a huge stone monument to commemorate the Shipka battle, and on the lower slopes you can see numerous Russian monuments and weapons left over from the heady days of 1877.

The Russian Church near Shipka village

East of Shipka Peak you will note a bizarre man-made construction perched on a hill. It resembles… a flying saucer. This is the remains of one of Communism's best-known follies, a Party House that was constructed in the early 1980s and that was supposed to celebrate the triumph of Communism in Bulgaria. It has long been abandoned and is now in danger of caving in. Colloquially, it is known as, well, the Flying Saucer.

Sinchets-Dzhebel (Road 5082)

Sinchets is a tiny hamlet in the heart of the Rhodope and Dzhebel is a small town at the foot of a Rhodope hill, but the road connecting them is a pure pleasure to drive. Go there in spring and everything around you will be in full blossom. This is a territory of Bulgaria populated mainly by ethnic Turks. Consequently, some elderly folk may be unable to speak Bulgarian, so asking for directions will be met with bewilderment. Take in the numerous mosques of various sizes, sometimes perched on incredibly picturesque hills. Stop for a picnic at one of the several lay-bys.

Trigrad-Yagodina (Road 197 to Yagodina, unnamed road to Trigrad)

The Trigrad-Yagodina drive will take you through some of Bulgaria's most dramatic scenery, including the Gorge of Trigrad and the Buynovsko Gorge. Precipitous cliffs, whitewater rivers, waterfalls and pristine nature, several major caves will evoke nothing lesser than Yosemite.

The Trigrad Gorge

One of the most important caves in the region is called the Devil's Throat. It is replete with a river that gushes into a huge black hole resembling a throat, and its enormous underground galleries stupefy. The site is so enchanting that a local legend tells Orpheus descended through it into the underworld to seek his beloved Eurydice.

The Yagodina Cave, next to Yagodina, is thought of as Bulgaria's perhaps most beautiful. It was inhabited by prehistoric men.

Descending in the Devil's Throat Cave

What the wild Rhododendron is to Strandzha, so is the Haberlea to the Rhodope. Because it has no equivalent anywhere else in Europe, it does not even have an English name. The tiny flower, in bloom in May-June, is known for its extreme ability to survive. Dried-up flowers are known to have started growing again after a few years' time the moment they are put in water. Locally it is known as the Tears of Orpheus, but some people name it the Immortal Flower.

Tears of Orpheus flower

When night is about to fall, the whole experience of driving through these gorges on a road that can hardly make space for two vehicles to pass will assume otherworldly, perhaps sinister dimensions.

High Beam is a series of articles, initiated by Vagabond Magazine, with the generous support of the America for Bulgaria Foundation, that aims to provide details and background of places, cultural entities, events, personalities and facts of life that are sometimes difficult to understand for the outsider in the Balkans. The ultimate aim is the preservation of Bulgaria's cultural heritage – including but not limited to archaeological, cultural and ethnic diversity. The statements and opinionsexpressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the America for Bulgaria Foundation and its partners.

Issue 145 America for Bulgaria Foundation

HIGH BEAM

Add new comment

WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?

DimanaT — Thu, 25 Oct 2018 11:17:25 +0000

WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?

by Stamen Manolov

DimanaT Thu, 10/25/2018 - 14:17

Bulgaria has many natural, historical and cultural sites of interest for the inquisitive traveller, but one aspect of it has remained largely unknown to both outsiders and the locals. It is its sometimes overwhelming legacy of Communist and pre-Communist era ruins that spur the imagination and that invite for urban exploration.

Urbex, as it has come to be known in the Western world, is just sprouting in this country. In the next issue of this journal we will be bringing you a comprehensive overview of some of Bulgaria's top Urbex locations, the one pictured here included.

Where in Bulgaria are you?

Issue 145

WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?

Add new comment

MEASURING CORRUPTION IN SEPTEMVRI

DimanaT — Thu, 25 Oct 2018 11:14:53 +0000

MEASURING CORRUPTION IN SEPTEMVRI

by Stamen Manolov

DimanaT Thu, 10/25/2018 - 14:14

The Bulgarian government is serious in its fight against corruption. The latest example of a legal action against someone suspected of corruption happened in Septemvri, a town in central Bulgaria.

The Office of the Special Prosecutor, which is the state attorney ordering corruption probes, took things with quite some determination as it ordered an underground probe to verify whether a water pipe recently installed under one of the town's streets was up to standard. This happened as part of an ongoing investigation against the town's mayor who the prosecutors suspected of embezzlement.

The methods used in the probe evoked a Monty Python sketch. The deputy mayor of Septemvri was ordered personally to dig a hole in the street using a spade so that a police investigator could use a tape to measure the water pipes. As the digging progressed, a telephone line was cracked and the people in the neighbourhood lost their phone and Internet connections. A local who did not know the police probe was going on and did not expect a hole where there had been a road... drove into it, damaging his car.

In addition to the water pipe, a local city council road had to be measured, using the odometer of a police car, against the protestations of the police who said the measurement might not be very precise as the car's tyres were low profile. Probes were then taken from the road to verify whether the amount of sand and gravel used was right.

The state prosecutors and the police left the water pipe hole open, then the Septemvri City Council refused to pay for its repair.

It is unclear whether the evidence collected in this way was used against the mayor of Septemvri, but the police refused to issue the man who smashed his car with a police report. Instead, a uncalled-for towing truck appeared to pull the car out of the hole.

The man was infuriated as he needed the report to file insurance claims. The police responded he himself had refused to be issued a report, a claim the man vehemently denied. Asked who had called in the towing truck, the police said they didn't know. The service, however, was free.

Issue 145

JOKE OF THE MONTH

Add new comment

HOW TO SURVIVE BULGARIA'S ROADS

DimanaT — Thu, 25 Oct 2018 11:13:16 +0000

HOW TO SURVIVE BULGARIA'S ROADS

by Dimana Trankova; photography by Anthony Georgieff

DimanaT Thu, 10/25/2018 - 14:13

Driving becomes major write-home-about experience

Bulgarian drivers and their behaviour on the road are the stuff of urban lore. You will be hearing horror stories about them. Some of those may be true, others may not. Driving in Bulgaria is more dangerous compared to Wyoming, but absolutely a piece of cake if you have survived southern Italy. One thing that cannot be disputed about driving in this country is that it is be a memorable adventure.

Motorways in Bulgaria are being built slowly and often substandardly, and there are just two fully completed high-speed roads, connecting Sofia to Burgas on the Black Sea and to Svilengrad on the border with Turkey and Greece. Most first-class roads are OK, but most secondary roads may be problematic. Streets and pavements in the bigger cities, including Central Sofia, are dire. Anywhere you go, watch out for potholes that tend to appear without warning. The road authorities may take a while to fix them.

Signage, if it exists, is at best misleading. Do pay attention to the signs you pass and you will discover that they often give controversial information about mileage. This is the tip of the iceberg. While driving in Bulgaria, you will see signs that point you into the wrong direction or to no direction at all. You will see Road Under Construction signs, and then there will be no construction on the road – and vice versa. Forget about the numerous well-lit diversion signs on Western motorways that appear miles ahead. In Bulgaria you will be lucky if you see a lamp stuck on a pole just ahead of a deviation.

In such circumstances, asking for directions becomes an integral part of any off-the-beaten-track trip in the country. This, however, brings out new problems. Bulgarians tend to use local toponyms that mean the world to them but are impenetrable to outsiders. One example, taken from real life: "When you reach the old bath house…" Bulgarians also tend to prefer directions involving "up the road" or "down there" rather than "left," "right" and "straight ahead."

Like the Germans, Bulgarian drive fast and aggressively. Unlike the Germans, they will rarely give you way if you are trying to get onto a major road from a small one. The rule of thumb is the flashier the car, the more aggressive the driver. Flashing lights in your rearview mirror means the driver behind you thinks you are too slow and tells you "Get out of my way." Flashing lights in front of you does not mean "I give you way," but "There are cops round the bend."

Traffic cops in Bulgaria are a part of the problem, not of the solution. They lurk under bridges and behind bushes and will give you hell, especially if you drive on foreign number plates. You will never see them cruising around in pursuit of maniacal drivers but you may meet them at service stations having coffee. Cops used to be notoriously corrupt. Truth be told, corruption now seems to have ebbed away.

The residents of Sofia constantly whine about congestion and the rush hour traffic jams. The situation is bad, but if you end up sitting on the road, relax. Sit back and think of the M25 in London.

It is not that there are too many cars or that the roads are too narrow for them. It is a matter of traffic organisation, one of the weakest points of Sofia City Council. You will see that whatever you do your next traffic light will be red. This causes most of the driving trouble in the city, but apparently the City Council people are unable to fathom it.

Again, regardless of the thousands of horror stories about driving in Bulgaria you are unlikely to have an accident if you follow the simply rule: "Drive defensively, defensively, defensively."

Issue 145 America for Bulgaria Foundation

HIGH BEAM

Add new comment

WHICH THRACIAN TOMB HAS FRESCOES?

DimanaT — Thu, 25 Oct 2018 11:09:56 +0000

WHICH THRACIAN TOMB HAS FRESCOES?

by Bozhidara Georgieva

DimanaT Thu, 10/25/2018 - 14:09

Think you know Bulgaria and the Bulgarians? Take our test to doublecheck

1. Which plant grows in Bulgaria's southwest?
A. Olive
B. Mango
C. Kiwi

2. Which Bulgarian city claims to be located by rocks that look blue from the distance?
A. Stara Zagora
B. Haskovo
C. Sliven

3. Who was Khan Asparuh?
A. The founder of Bulgaria
B. Bulgaria's first patriarch
C. Bulgaria's liberator from the Ottomans

4. In Bulgaria, they call you a Tikvenik, or pumpkin pie, when…
A. You are stupid
B. You are brave
C. You are pretty

5. The name of the Lev, the Bulgarian currency, means…
A. Eagle
B. Lion
C. Bull

6. Which city was called Philippopolis?
A. Ruse
B. Burgas
C. Plovdiv

7. Which church is named after a Russian saint?
A. St Aleksandr Nevsky, Sofia
B. St Nikolay, Varna
C. St Dimitar, Vidin

8. Which Thracian tomb has frescoes?
A. Mezek tomb near Svilengrad
B. Golyama Kosmatka near Kazanlak
C. Aleksandrovo near Haskovo

9. The Rezovska River defines which Bulgarian border?
A. With Greece
B. With Turkey
C. With Romania

The correct answers:
1. – C; 2. – C; 3. – A; 4. – A; 5. – B; 6. – C; 7. – A; 8. – C; 9. – B.

Issue 145

BULGARIA'S MONTHLY QUIZ

Add new comment

MONASTERY IN THE SKY

DimanaT — Thu, 25 Oct 2018 11:05:55 +0000

MONASTERY IN THE SKY

by Dimana Trankova; photography by Anthony Georgieff

DimanaT Thu, 10/25/2018 - 14:05

Glozhene is the closest Bulgaria has to famous Meteora 'hanging' monasteries

Seen from afar, St George's Monastery near Glozhene, by the Hemus highway, appears to challenge the laws of both physics and common sense. The compact monastic complex of wooden residential buildings with drooping eaves stands on the top of a narrow rock pillar.

Reaching the monastery is also a challenge. Signage in Yablanitsa, the nearest town, is non-existent and the GPS will send you to a dead-end. The road itself is a narrow band of crumbling asphalt clinging on to the steep slopes. Pray that you do not meet an oncoming car. In snow, it is impassable.

All this makes Glozhene Monastery the only place in Bulgaria that resembles the famed monasteries of Meteora in Greece, which are built at hair-rising heights on natural rock pillars in Thessaly.

According to legend, Glozhene Monastery was founded in 1224 by a prince from Kyiv. Initially, the monastery was on the plain below until the icon of St George mysteriously disappeared from the church. The monks finally found it atop a steep stone pillar. They brought the icon back to the monastery, but it disappeared again, and again, and again, until the monks realised what it wanted. At the end of the 14th century, the monastery was moved to the top of the stone pillar.

The earliest evidence of the monastery's existence dates from the 16th century. In the past, legends about icons that moved of their own will were quite popular across the Balkans. Some are told about monasteries on Mount Athos, the conservative monastic republic in Greece, as well as about Bachkovo Monastery and the monastery near Kalofer in Bulgaria. The story about the medieval Ukrainian prince who founded Glozhene Monastery was probably invented in the second half of the 16th century. Why? Because back then the monastery was poor and needed a strategy to attract more pilgrims, and their money.

Glozhene Monastery was founded centuries ago, but the oldest preserved buildings in it is from the 19th century

It worked. In the following centuries Glozhene Monastery maintained active connections with Ukraine and Russia, as is evident by its collection of 18th century books in Ukrainian.

In the 19th century Glozhene Monastery changed its priorities from the ecclesiastical to the political. It provided a regular shelter for revolutionary Vasil Levski, who in the 1860s and the 1870s criss-crossed the region, establishing clandestine revolutionary cells. His hiding place is one of the major attractions at Glozhene Monastery today.

The monastery is also linked to the life and deeds of another key personality of the Bulgarian 19th century: Vasil Drumev, aka Bishop Kliment. Drumev wrote the first modern Bulgarian short novel, Unhappy Family, and the first original drama, Ivanko, the Slayer of King Asen, and was among the founders of what would become the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. In 1873 he took his vows, but this did not stop him becoming a prominent conservative politician after Bulgaria's liberation in 1878. He even became prime minister, in 1886. In 1893, Bishop Kliment went too far with his pro-Russian and anti-Catholic stance in a country ruled by a Catholic Prince, Ferdinand, and an anti-Russian prime minister, Stefan Stambolov. Bishop Kliment was forced into exile in Glozhene Monastery, but as early as the following year Stambolov was disgraced and out of power. Freed from his exile, the bishop made amends with Ferdinand and helped with his recognition by Russia.

L-29 fighter jet in Malak Izvor village, near the monastery

Only the 19th century monastic cells at Glozhene Monastery survive from this turbulent past. The church is still more recent. It was built in 1930 after an earthquake demolished the original in 1913. Had Bishop Kliment lived to see the new church, he would be shocked by its appearance: it is in the Protestant style, as it was created by a German-educated Bulgarian architect. Its old wooden icon-doors, made in the 16th century, were removed and are now in the church of the nearby village of Malak Izvor.

A copy of the supposedly miracle-making icon of St George, however, is still at Glozhene Monastery, covered in silver by grateful believers. People still pray for health in front of it, oblivious to the fact that the icon is hardly mediaeval. Instead, it was probably painted in the 18th century, in Kyiv.

Issue 145 America for Bulgaria Foundation Bulgarian monasteries Revival Period Religions in Bulgaria

HIGH BEAM

Add new comment

QUOTE-UNQUOTE

DimanaT — Thu, 25 Oct 2018 10:33:35 +0000

QUOTE-UNQUOTE DimanaT Thu, 10/25/2018 - 13:33

As there is a lot of talk about renovating the renovations, I ordered controlling the controls.

Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova on the repair works in Central Sofia

A group of shrill women with children who pretend to be sick.

Deputy Prime Minister Valeri Simeonov on the ongoing protest of mothers of children of disabilities

We need to defend Orban as that way we defend our interests.

Environment Minister Neno Dimov

I cannot talk over a shrewd woman, that is why I can't get married.

Prime Minister Boyko Borisov on Kornelia Ninova,chairwoman of the BSP

Issue 145 Boyko Borisov

QUOTE-UNQUOTE