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| 18 Jan 2012, Issue 3301 · USD: 1.52919 EUR: 1.95583 · Sofia: min -7°, max -3° Varna: min -6°, max 1° · |
| BUSINESS POLITICS WORLD SOCIETY SPORTS FORUM |
Bulgarian Delegation to Discuss Troubled Loan for Siemens Trains in Germany
 Bulgaria
will offer German bank KfW three options for paying back the debt of
state-owned railway company BDZ for the Siemens Desiro electric trains.
read |
Bulgaria Miners Keep Up Strike, Electricity Hike Looms
 The
effective strike of miners at Bulgaria's state-owned coal mining
company Maritsa Iztok Mines is entering its third day on Tuesday, with
protesters demanding a cash bonus.
read |
Bulgaria's High Clergy Infected with Ex-Communist Spies
 Eleven
out of a total of fifteen Bulgarian Metropolitan bishops have been
exposed as former agents of the country's former Communist State
Security.
read |
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BULGARIA MULLS PERMANENT BAN ON HYDROFRACKING TECHNOLOGY
The ban on the use of hydrofracking technology in the extraction and exploration of gas and oil in Bulgaria will be permanent. The text is included in a draft proposal of the Parliamentary group of the ruling, center-right Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria party, GERB, which will be submitted in the Parliament on Wednesday. The proposal points out that the ban includes the use any technology involving the propagation of fractures in a rock layer caused by the presence of pressurized water or other fluid. It also bans extraction of shale gas, gas from coal, and of oil from sands on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria and its territorial waters. All exploration and extraction activities where the hydrofracking technology is planned must be immediately stopped, effective the date of the publishing of the decision Sanctions will include a fine of BN 100 000 and confiscation of equipment. Those companies, which have already received licenses for exploration or concession for extraction of natural gas and oil, affected by the new ban, are given a three-month deadline to present altered projects for approval, otherwise they would lose their earlier-granted rights. The ban does not include scientific research from independent scientific organizations, which are non-profit, are studying the risks from exploration and extraction of gas and oil, and are not using the hydrofracking method. It was reported earlier Tuesday that the GERB cabinet is withdrawing its decision granting rights to sign a contract with the US company "Chevron" to search for natural gas and oil without specifying what technology will be used. Bulgaria's Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, stated during the meeting of the Council of Ministers that the government would not grant "Chevron" a permit to study shale gas deposits with the use of hydrofracking and would allow it only when there is a worldwide guaranteed technology for such extraction. The debates on the issue will be launched again when the European Commission and Parliament begin such debates. Foreign Minister, Nikolay Mladenov, pointed out that a similar ban could be imposed for the entire EU. Borisov stressed that shale gas is key national resource and its exploration is important for the country's economy along with the option to use it as a trump card in negotiating gas prices with Russia. 
BULGARIAN DELEGATION TO DISCUSS TROUBLED LOAN FOR SIEMENS TRAINS IN GERMANY Bulgaria will offer German bank KfW three options for paying back the debt of state-owned railway company BDZ for the Siemens Desiro electric trains. The scenarios will be discussed during a two-day visit in Berlin, Transport Minister Ivaylo Moskovski announced on Tuesday. The Bulgarian delegation, which departed for Berlin Tuesday morning, includes Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov , Agriculture Minister Miroslav Naydenov, Transport Minister Ivaylo Moskovski and Energy Minister Traicho Traikov. The first two options for settling the debt are to use the proceeds from the upcoming privatization of BDZ's Freight Service department or to use the money BDZ will obtain under a loan agreement with the World Bank. The third option is a debt/equity swap, which has so far failed to draw the interest of Deutcshe Bahn. "Despite that, I will bring up the issue again because this is the most profitable scenario," Moskovski said on Tuesday. He added that using the money from the privatization of BDZ's freight department would be the better option of the first two. The Freight Service unit is the profit-making unit of the debt-ridden Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ) company, which has suffered severe financial problems as a whole. BDZ's total debts amounted to BGN 771 M as of October 2011, which made Moskovski describe the firm as being "technically bankrupt." In end-November, BDZ employees embarked on a strike which lasted 24 days, with no trains running between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Railway workers were dissatisfied with the planned reform at the state-owned company envisaging 2000 layoffs and the reduction of number of trains in operation by 150 (later scaled down to 138) by January 2012. A total of 1050 railway workers agreed to voluntarily quit their jobs and receive six gross monthly wages. The collective bargaining agreements between the trade unions and the executives of the Passenger Services and the Freight Services units of the debt-ridden BDZ Holding were eventually signed in end-December. BDZ risks losing the 25 Siemens Desiro electric trains, or half of the fleet of modern passenger trains, unless it moves to settle the EUR 24 M debt it owes to KfW for their purchase. The loan, which was taken out in 2005 and has not been serviced since 2010, is partly guaranteed by the German government. TELEKOM AUSTRIA, TURKCELL EYE BULGARIA'S VIVACOM - REPORTS Telekom Austria and Turkey's biggest mobile phone company Turkcell are interested in the sale of Bulgaria's Vivacom, heir to the state-owned Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BTC), foreign media reports say. Telekom Austria AG, which already owns Mobiltel in Bulgaria, may decide to expand its business in the country, Austrian newspaper Die Presse reported Monday, without citing any sources. Die Presse reports that part of Telekom Austria's management is in favor of a takeover, but that Chief Financial Officer Hans Tschuden is not, due to fears that problems in Belarus could repeat themselves in Bulgaria. According Die Presse, Telekom Austria may face difficulties with competition authorities and so would plan to break up the company and sell off Vivacom's mobile business. Telekom Austria declined to comment, saying that it doesn't comment on rumors. Meanwhile it emerged that Turkey's biggest mobile phone company Turkcell is looking into Bulgarian telecommunications operator Vivacom. There was no board decision on the issue yet, Turkcell Deputy Chief Executive Koray Ozturkler told Reuters on Monday. The head of Bulgaria's Corporate Commercial Bank, which is believed to finance the media group of mogul Irena Krasteva, is also interested in the sale of the country's top fixed-line operator Vivacom, according to media reports. Tsvetan Vassilev stands behind two of the four bids for the company, previously known as BTC, local Trud daily reported in the middle of December last year, citing well informed insiders. Vivacom is Bulgaria's third biggest mobile operator. It also dominates the fixed-line segment with 2.9 million phone lines, which accounts for 97% of the market, but it has been losing customers at an alarming rate in recent years, due to the spread of mobile communications and alternative telecoms in the country. Vivacom - formerly know as the Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BTC) - has gone through a number of controversial privatization deals. The long-drawn-out and widely criticized EUR 230 M sale deal for 65% stake in Bulgaria's telecom operator BTC was sealed at the end of February 2004 after nearly two years of procedural predicaments, legal and political battles. Months later Icelandic businessman Thor Bjorgolfsson bought Viva's stake for EUR 300 M and resold it to the investment company AIG Central Europe for EUR 1.08 B. AIG Investments acquired 65% of the former state-owned telecommunications firm in May 2007. Then in August of the same year it upped its investment to 90%. Chinese telecoms and media tycoon Richard Li, chairman of Asian telco PCCW, inherited control of Vivacom in March 2010 as part of the acquisition of AIG Investments, a unit of the troubled US insurance group which spans asset management and private equity investments. The unit was renamed Pinebridge Investments ahead of the takeover by Li's Pacific Century group. Dubai-based Oger Telecom was the closest to taking over the management of the company following negotiations that have dragged on for nearly half a year. The deal however failed because the final offer was not satisfactory, according to insiders. Li and Oger have been in a battle over Vivacom for the last few months after it was put for sale by US insurance giant AIG. The BTC sale was among the top priorities of Bulgaria's centrist government of former king Simeon Saxe-Coburg, which took over in July 2001. In 2000, the right-wing government of Ivan Kostov declined to sell BTC to the sole bidder consortium of Greek OTE and Dutch KPN which was offering USD 610 M for a 51%, in a package with a mobile licence. The license, the country's second for a digital mobile telephone operator, was won separately by OTE in a tender in 2000 for USD 135 M. The nation of 7.7 million people has three mobile operators, which are foreign owned. Mobiltel is controlled by Telekom Austria, Globul is the local unit of Greece's OTE. BULGARIAN CABINET SLASHES STATE SERVANTS PAID LEAVE All State servants will now have up to 25 days of paid annual leave, according to a decision of the cabinet of the ruling, center-right Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria party, GERB. The decision was made during the Tuesday meeting of the Council of Ministers. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Simeon Djankov, explained that the decision recommends to all State institutions and administrations, effective "immediately" to make the leave equal to the one in the private sector – 20 days for standard work day and another 5 for a non-standard one. Until now, the State Servants Act provided for 20 plus 12 days, respectively. The remaining 7 days will be used for mandatory staff development classes. The idea behind the move is to improve the quality of services provided by State servants and their career advancement. The funds for such staff development are slated in the budget of each institution, but until now have been largely untapped. According to Djankov, there are two Ministries with existing Class Labor Contracts – of Defense and of Interior. In the Defense Ministry, the changes will happen in March, while in the Interior one, Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, had voiced preparedness to begin "moving in this direction." At the end of 2010, the unused paid leave in State Administration, had been 2 170 million days; in 2009 – nearly 3 million, and in 2011 - about 1.9 million, the Finance Minister informed. S&P DOWNGRADES EUROPE BAILOUT FUND The credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's has downgraded the EU bailout fund to AA+ from AAA in what has been described as another ax swing at Europe. The move was largely expected after S&P downgraded nine euro area governments last week, including France and Austria, two big backers of the European Financial Stability Facility. Like France and Austria, the EFSF is now rated AA+, according to S&P. The downgrade could affect the EFSF's ability to raise money cheaply. Alternatively, the fund could be endowed with less money, which would be better guaranteed. Depending on how European officials react to the cut, S&P said the rating on the EFSF could either be restored or further downgraded. "The outlook is developing, which reflects that we could raise the EFSF's long-term rating to AAA if we see that additional credit enhancements are put in place, but also the likelihood that we could lower the rating further if we conclude that the creditworthiness of the EFSF's members will likely be further reduced over the next two years," the ratings agency said in a statement. Earlier in the day, another ratings agency, Moody's, said it would allow France to maintain its AAA rating for now, although it warned that the deterioration in France's debt position was "putting pressure" on the country's stable outlook. S&P cut its ratings for France, Italy, Spain, Cyprus, Portugal, Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia and Malta late on Friday. The idea of the EFSF was for countries with top credit ratings to borrow money cheaply that they could then lend on to countries that were struggling. But Friday's downgrade took away two of its six AAA rated guarantors. That will reduce the fund's AAA rated guarantees from EUR 440 B to about EUR 260 B. EBRD'S BERGLOF RAISES ALARM OVER BANK EXODUS FROM EASTERN EUROPE EBRD chief economist Erik Berglof has started to drum support for a new Vienna Initiative in a bid to stop an outflow of capital from emerging Europe. "What I took away from this meeting was a remarkable consensus," Erik Berglof, chief economist of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, said at a Euromoney conference in Vienna on Tuesday. "Now it's to sit down and work out the details together with the private sector." A day earlier speaking in a telephone interview for Reuters, Berglof warned that west European countries' scramble to protect themselves from the debt crisis while banks shrink their balance sheets risked a double blow to the region. He said he hopes to contain the urge of many banks to sell or reduce assets to hit the new capital adequacy targets. "We shouldn't have same expectations in terms of exposure commitment that we had (in 2009). There is an adjustment that needs to happen. We just have to make sure it happens in a more managed, gradual way. That is my hope." The EBRD and other agencies have also been working with emerging economies on the outskirts of Europe, such as Bulgaria, Romania, and Serbia, which are most at risk of a slow-down in the wake of Greece's financial crisis. Greek banks hold nearly a 30% of the Bulgarian banking market, a 20% share of the bank loans and one-third of all deposits. Some of the biggest lenders in Bulgaria are managed by Italy's UniCredit, Greece's National Bank of Greece, Hungary's OTP and Austria's Raiffeisen. Other Greek banks present in Bulgaria include EFG Eurobank, Piraeus, Emporiki and Alpha Bank. Experts have warned that Bulgaria, the European Union member boasting one of the the bloc's smallest budget deficit, risks seeing its banks sucked under by the fiscal sins of neighboring Greece. Bulgaria's central bank and finance minister however have repeatedly tried to assuage fears over funds outflow from Greek bank subsidiaries in the country to headquarters in Greece, saying this is part of the free movement of capital. BULGARIA'S GERB LIFTS CHEVRON SHALE GAS LICENSE The cabinet of the ruling, center-right Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria party, GERB, withdrew Tuesday its decision granting rights to sign a contract with the US company "Chevron." The news was reported by the Minister of Economy and Energy, Traicho Traikov, speaking after the meeting of the Council of Ministers. "The idea is to give the company rights to conduct studies, exploration and extraction of oil and gas by the use of conventional technologies, but to ban the hydrofracking technology – the latter will be allowed only when we receive convincing proof and means of control that it would not be harmful to the environment. The previous permit allowed "Chevron" to search for natural gas and oil without specifying what technology will be used. "Each company, which has a permit to explore natural gas and oil presents, a general work program and a yearly one, which describes the methods and they must be approved. Nowhere in the requirements for the bid or in the offers, there was mention of technology. I never expected that the debate will turn so extreme," Traikov said. The Minister had further offered to the Parliamentary Economy Committee to initiate the establishment of a group with the Parliament to study and survey all international practices, all facts, and scientific research in order for an informed decision on the issue to be made. Such ad hoc group was recently established at the European Commission. In the summer "Chevron" was declared the winning bidder for the extraction of shale gas, near the town of Novi Pazar, in northeastern Bulgaria, but without a preliminary environmental assessment. The company had a 5-year deadline to prepare a program for the exploration. At that time, the cabinet gave Traikov the green light to prepare a contract to include the use of hydrofracking technology. According to the Minister, "Chevron" had not yet been notified about the latest development and negotiations on the issue are pending. One day earlier, the Parliamentary Economy Committee passed a controversial moratorium on the exploration and extraction of shale gas a day after mass protest rallies took place in 12 Bulgarian cities over the issue. On Tuesday, Valentin Nikolov, deputy head of the GERB Parliamentary group and of the Committee, stated that the group is proposing a full ban on the use of the hydrofracking technology on Bulgarian territory. The decision is going to be debated by all Members of the Parliament Wednesday. Environmentalists are staging a mass protest rally and march for the same day. The moratorium will be lifted when amendments in the Preservation of Environment and Water Act are passed, introducing a requirement for Assessment of the Impact on the Environment for future exploration was a text in the moratorium that further angered eco activists in the country. 
BULGARIA MINERS KEEP UP STRIKE, ELECTRICITY HIKE LOOMS The effective strike of miners at Bulgaria's state-owned coal mining company Maritsa Iztok Mines is entering its third day on Tuesday, with protesters demanding a cash bonus. The joint Strike Committee of Bulgaria's two main labor unions – the Confederation of Independent Syndicates in Bulgaria, KNSB, and Podkrepa Labor Confederation (Support) - reported Tuesday morning that more than 95% of the miners have jointed the strike the previous day. Estimates show that only on Tuesday the strike would incur BGN 1 M of losses in unrealized revenues. The regulatory body has warned of a 10-15% increase in the price of electricity if the miners refuse to go back to work for one month. The syndicates insist that the employer comply with the agreement signed on July 12, 2011 regulating the relative share of the wage costs in relation to the company's revenues. They claim that Evgeni Stoykov, CEO of Maritsa Iztok Mines AD withdrew his signature from the document despite the anticipated BGN 500 M in revenues of the company, thereby leaving the miners without year-end bonuses. The management of Maritsa Iztok Mines AD, however, has said that it has fulfilled all of its commitments under the agreement. Prime Minister Boyko Borisov sided with the company's governing body, saying that the miners were better paid than the Finance Minister. The three open-pit mines at Maritsa Iztok Mines AD supply coal to four thermal power plants, whose output covers 25% of the country's electricity needs. The state-owned company has a total headcount of 7100. BULGARIA STILL IN TOP TEN ON BRITONS' PROPERTY MAP - OVERSEAS PORTAL Bulgaria is keeping its standing among the top ten most preferred real estate markets for overseas buyers, according to a new infographic released by TheMoveChannel.com. The infographic, which is based upon the enquiries received by the overseas property portal in 2011, showed that 2.7% of all enquiries in December were directed at Bulgarian property, making the country the eighth most popular property destination. The news about Britons' revived interest in Bulgarian property and the country's return to the overseas property portal's top ten for the first time in three years broke in the summer last year. The portal's director Dan Johnson commented that Bulgaria's real estate sales have been improving all year, with buyers attracted by exceptionally low prices for winter property. According to him it was no surprise that interest has increased. The news however was derided by the Independent, which claimed it has filled some Britons with fear. "Perhaps it's because Bulgaria is outside the eurozone and is relatively cheap that it's on the way back into favour? But as far as Bulgarian property is concerned I'm reminded of the saying: Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me," wrote the newspaper editor Julian Knight in the middle of August. He argued that even before the financial crisis of 2008, it was clear that "there was something badly wrong with buying in Bulgaria"– developers selling property on land they didn't own; running off with people's deposits; sub-standard construction; no services connected to properties. Owning a second home abroad was once the preserve of the super-wealthy, but in the past decade a heady combination of TV property shows and cheap mortgages has convinced an estimated half a million Britons to buy their own place in the sun. The value of UK-owned foreign property investments peaked at GBP 58 B in 2008, up from GBP 10 B in 2000. Recently however British owners of second homes overseas, including Bulgaria, have been selling up due to falling rental income. SOFIA SEES HIGHEST DROP IN EUROPE'S PRIME OFFICE SPACE RENTS Bulgaria's capital Sofia has registered the highest decrease in the rent prices for prime office spaces among 53 European cities, a CB Richard Ellis report shows. In the fourth quarter of 2011 Bulgaria's office rents dropped by 7.1% year on year. Compared to the previous quarter, the decrease was 3.7%, the highest decrease among the European cities included in the report, according to the Mediapool news agency. The rents in Sofia's highest office space rental market segment were EUR 13 per sq m at the end of the fourth quarter of 2011. Drops in the prime office space rents were observed in several regions of Croatia, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain, as well as UK's Edinburgh. The biggest increase was registered in the Russian market, with rental prices growing by 33% year on year. AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE HAILS BULGARIA, ISRAEL DEFENSE AGREEMENTS The American Jewish Committee (AJC), a US-based advocacy organization, has welcomed in a statement the signing two new agreements between Bulgaria and Israel, expanding their defense and security cooperation. The accords were signed in Tel Aviv on Sunday by Bulgarian Defense Minister Anyu Angelov and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak. The AJC statement quotes Bulgarian Defense Minister Angelov in saying that the two agreements, in addition to their economic and defense benefits, also "bring a political message – Bulgaria and Israel are a step closer towards stronger cooperation and a strategic dialogue." One of the accords provides for joint army training. The other is a Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation in the military industry. "We salute these accords as a reaffirmation of the mutually beneficial ties Bulgaria and Israel share," said AJC Executive Director David Harris. "Since emerging as a free nation in the post-Soviet era, Bulgaria has become a valued friend and partner of Israel, as well as the United States." AJC has maintained close relations with Bulgaria, including its active Jewish community, for more than two decades, the organization statement poitns out. AJC reminds that Harris was honored by Bulgaria's President, Georgi Parvanov, in a formal ceremony in 2010, for his key role in deepening Bulgaria's ties to the United States and strengthening transatlantic relations, which included supporting Bulgaria's successful bids for NATO membership and "graduation" from the Cold War-era Jackson-Vanik Amendment. Numerous AJC delegations have visited Sofia since 1990. "The friendship between Bulgaria and the American Jewish Committee has stood the test of time. Thank you for consistently promoting the friendship between our nations and helping forge a strong alliance between Bulgaria and the United States," Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nickolay Mladenov told an audience of more than 1 600 at the AJC Global Forum in Washington in April 2011, where he received a standing ovation, the AJC's statement reminded. BULGARIA'S FOREIGN MINISTER ANNOUNCES BRIEF VISIT TO GREECE AMID PROTESTS Bulgaria's Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov will arrive in Greece for a brief visit on Wednesday, the country's Foreign Ministry has announced. In Athens, Mladenov will meet with his Greek counterpart Stavros Dimas. The two Foreign Ministers are expected to discuss their countries' bilateral relations, as well as the situation in the Western Balkans. On Tuesday, thousands of Greek employees marched to the country's parliament to protest against austerity measures. Greece's private sector creditors have already warned that country's government must urgently break a deadlock in negotiations on a plan to rescue it from the debt crisis and avoid default. BULGARIA HAD 3RD LOWEST EU INFLATION RATE DEC 2011 Y/Y Bulgaria's annual inflation rate in December 2011 was 2%, the third lowest in the bloc after Sweden (0.4%) and Malta (1.3%), according to Eurostat's latest data. The highest annual rates were observed in Slovakia (4.6%), Poland (4.5%) and Cyprus (4.2%). Compared with November 2011, annual inflation fell in twenty-one Member States, remained stable in two and rose in two. The lowest 12-month averages up to December 2011 were registered in Sweden (1.4%), Slovenia and the Czech Republic (both 2.1%), and the highest in Romania (5.8%), Estonia (5.1%) and Latvia (4.2%). EU annual inflation was 3.0% in December 2011, down from 3.4% in November. A year earlier the rate was 2.7%. Monthly inflation was 0.3% in December 2011. Euro area annual inflation was 2.7% in December 2011, down from 3.0% in November. A year earlier the rate was 2.2%. Monthly inflation was 0.3% in December 2011. NEW EP PRESIDENT SCHULZ IS 'FRIEND OF BULGARIA', PES LEADER SAYS Newly elected European Parliament Martin Schulz has contributed greatly to Bulgaria's accession to the EU, according to Bulgarian Sergey Stanishev, interim leader of the Party of European Socialists. Stanishev reminded that Schulz initiated two resolutions in the European Parliament in favor of Bulgaria's accession to the Schengen Agreement as soon as the country covered the technical criteria. Upon congratulating Schulz on his election on Tuesday, Stanishev pointed out that the German social democrat's convincing victory was a sound proof of the respect towards him as a political figure and a person that stands for social values and solidarity within the European Union. Schultz won the post with 387 votes out of 670 cast thanks to the support of the European People's Party (EPP). He won against two competitors, Diana Wallis, a liberal but running as an independent, and Nirj Deva, from the center-right European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group. Schulz will replace European People's Party's Jerzy Buzek, who has steered the European Parliament since mid-2009, and will lead the EP until the next round of European elections in June 2014. BULGARIA SHOULD AIM FOR JOINING CLUB OF RICH NATIONS â�� EX FOREIGN MINISTER Bulgaria's long-term goal should be its accession to the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) and even the G20 club of rich countries, according to former Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Passy. Passy spoke during a discussion on the fifth anniversary of Bulgaria's accession to the EU organized by the Economic Policy Institute with the support of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES). Former socialist MEP Atanas Paparizov sided with the idea, adding that this had to be accompanied by a strategy for catch-up economic growth. Monica Panayotova, Chair of the parliamentary committee on EU Affairs, argued that the focus ought to be shifted away from swift measures to long-term policy-making. The former Foreign Minister and President of the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria referred to the GERB government as the most fortunate one in the past 20 years because it was the first that was not engaged in accession talks with the EU and therefore had a huge potential to set new goals in a 15 to 20-year perspective. Elaborating on the idea, he suggested that Bulgaria should aim for accession to the club of rich nations because the mere talks will make it an affluent country. Apart from that, a side benefit of the process will be the introduction of new standards that will push the country forward, according to the Atlantic Club President. He warned, however, that Bulgaria would have to pay the political price of the goal because its achievement would require unpopular measures, among others. According to Passy, who pioneered the idea for the universal cell phone charger, Bulgaria could play a leading role in the implementation of the EU ICT standardisation policy. He explained that this would lead to millions of tons in less garbage and carbon emissions and trillions in saved Euro. He further noted that Bulgaria could play a leading role in EU's relations with third world countries like Mongolia, Vietnam, Cuba, North Korea and even CapeVerde. In his words, Bulgaria could use the good relations it built with these countries during communist times. According to Passy, Bulgaria could profit from the aid allocated by the EU for the development of third world countries, for instance by granting scholarships to foreign students who would like to come here to study. "Although the Euro currency does not seem stable at all now, Bulgaria must not forget its eurozone accession priority," Atanas Paparizov from the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) said, adding that the country should pursue eurozone membership by 2015. In the words of Monica Panayotova, who refused to commit to a specific date, Bulgaria aims to fulfill the Maastricht criteria and join the eurozone. "After the decision of Standard & Poor's to downgrade the credit rating of nine countries, Europe has been moving forward on four speeds, Bulgaria being somewhere between third and fourth," Paparizov stated. In his opinion, this puts Bulgaria in a very precarious situation, which makes it all the more necessary to works towards eurozone accession, however unstable the entity may appear nowadays. To illustrate his point, Paparizov said that as a eurozone member state Bulgaria would be able to seek much better interest rates at the bond emission for refinancing the debt. In the beginning of 2013, Bulgaria is to pay around BGN 2.5 B on the debt restructuring deal sealed during the government of former Tsar Simeon Saxe-Coburg. According to Monica Panayotova, the challenges before Bulgaria in 2012 will be the accession to the Schengen area and the lifting of the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) on Bulgaria's progress in judicial reform, the fight against corruption and the fight against organised crime. She outlined the debates on the multiannual financial framework in the EU as a short-term priority. Panayotova emphasized that Bulgaria will continue to press for the introduction of a mechanism for awarding excellent performers. EPP CHIEF DAUL HAILS OPPONENT SCHULZ AS EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT PRESIDENT The head of the European People's Party Group in the European Parliament, Joseph Daul, has congratulated Socialist Martin Schulz on his election as President of the EP. Speaking immediately after the election in plenary, Joseph Daul reminded Martin Schulz that his efforts would follow in the tradition of his predecessors, from Simone Veil to Jerzy Buzek, to whom he paid tribute, the EPP press service reported in a release. The Chairman of the EPP Group underlined that, although his Group does not share the partisan political convictions of the new President, this did not prevent it from placing its confidence in him, "because, in this difficult situation that Europe is going through, what brings us together is more important than what divides us." "You must, in our eyes, have 3 priorities: defending the Community method, advocating the Community method and safeguarding the Community method", said Joseph Daul, for whom "nothing is more important than to come out on top of the crisis by means of reinforced European integration." "Nothing is more important than showing our citizens that the Euro is a strong and sustainable currency, as long as we do what we should have done at its creation, i.e. political and economic governance," Daul stated. Addressing the new EP President Schulz, Daul added: "For two and a half years you are at the head of an assembly that seeks, not to impose on, but convince the Council that it is not in creating a Treaty version 1a, a Parliament version 1a, a governance version 1a, that we will overcome our current difficulties." "President, we will stand behind you every time you defend this integrated Europe, this Europe of solidarity, a Europe that proposes innovative solutions. We will support you every time you advocate common European policies, every time you fight for financing that matches the ambitions of the common policies," he vowed. The Chairman of the EPP Group also encouraged President Schulz to follow in the path of his predecessor to further improve transparency in the European Parliament following the recently-adopted Code of Conduct. BULGARIA'S OUTGOING PRESIDENT PLEDGES TO HELP PARTIES UNITE Bulgaria's outgoing President Georgi Parvanov has stated he would dedicate his future political career to "consolidating different political parties". In an interview for the TV7 private channel on Tuesday, Parvanov did not directly answer to whether he will try to regain the leadership of the left-wing Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) once his second and last term in office is over. "I can be useful in many ways, I hope that this role of mine will be appreciated," Parvanov said upon asked whether he would compete with current BSP chair Sergey Stanishev for leading the party. In November 2011, Parvanov announced that he will return to BSP after the end of his term on January 22. The Bulgarian President further refused to admit that the so-called "Grand Slam" (three major Bulgarian-Russian energy projects agreed in January 2008 between him and then Russian President Vladimir Putin) has failed to materialize. The South Stream gas pipeline alone is a major project, Parvanov pointed out, reminding that the current centrist-right GERB government has prioritized it. The other two projects in Parvanov's Grand Slam were the Belene nuclear power plant and the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline. Bulgaria's government terminated its participation in the oil pipeline at the end of 2011, while Belene's future remains unclear. BULGARIA'S HIGH CLERGY INFECTED WITH EX-COMMUNIST SPIES Eleven out of a total of fifteen Bulgarian Metropolitan bishops have been exposed as former agents of the country's former Communist State Security. All eleven exposed Metropolitan bishops have collaborated with State Security's notorious 6th directorate, the one engaged in "fighting political diversion" during the Communist dictatorship in the Balkan country that ended in 1989. The list includes Varna's Metropolitan bishop Kiril who stirred controversy early in December 2011 when he turned up for service in a luxury Lincoln MKZ Hybrid. Stara Zagora's Metropolitan bishop Galaktion, who recently turned out to have been a a member of the Board of Directors of a tissue bank, has also been exposed as a former secret agent. Contrary to media rumors, Bulgaria's 97-year-old Patriarch Maxim is not among the former State Security agents in the high clergy, according to the list submitted on Tuesday by the so-called Files Commission, a special panel investigating the Communist regime secret files. However, Bulgaria's current Chief Mufti Mustafa Hadzhi, his predecessor Nedim Gendzhev and the head of the Bulgarian Catholic Church Georgi Yovchev have all collaborated with the Communist-era State Security, it has been revealed. The blacklist of former state security agents and collaborators already features outgoing President and former Socialist leader, Georgi Parvanov, former constitutional judges, supreme magistrates, investigators, members of parliament, prominent and well-known former and current Bulgarian journalists, as well as ambassadors and diplomats abroad. The Files Commission has pointed out that their investigation in Bulgaria's Orthodox Church is not over yet. SOFIA DRIVER COMMITS SUICIDE BEFORE STUNNED PASSENGERS The driver of a Sofia trolley jumped to his death Tuesday morning from the "Chavdar" bridge in the capital. The man, Plamen Gunev, 50, died immediately. The driver of the trolley, serving the number 2 line of the city's public transportation, connecting the "Buxton" and "Hadzhi Dimitar" districts through downtown Sofia, stopped the vehicle at the bridge, opened the door, climbed on the railing and jumped before the very eyes of the four passengers inside. The incident happened at 9:18 am, while the call had been placed with the emergency 112 hotline some 30 minutes later. The authorities are conducting a search of the location and are probing the case. The city's public transportation did not experience delays over the tragic incident and is running on time. Gunev has been employed with Sofia public transportation since 2007, after relocating to the capital from Veliko Tarnovo. He has never been sanctioned, and has a family. It remains unclear what pushed him to commit suicide. BULGARIANS HONOR ST ANTHONY TO SCARE OFF DISEASES The Bulgarian Orthodox Churchy honors Tuesday the memory of the Venerable Anthony the Great, on the holiday called Antonovden. Anthony was born in about 250 AD in Egypt. During his life he spent 20 years in complete solitude in the desert. Sick and suffering people came to him for help. At the alleged age of 104 he entered into an open dispute with supporters of the doctrine of Arianism and defeated them. His success is called the Triumph of Christianity. The following year Anthony died and was buried in a secret place. Later his relics were re-discovered and officially transferred to Vienna. In the popular calendar Antonovden is celebrated as a Saint helping prevention of diseases. On this day, women do not spin or knit, do not boil beans or lentils since it is believed they might provoke the onset of plague or smallpox. Traditionally, they knead sour roundbread, coated with molasses, to give to relatives and neighbors for health. One loaf is to be left in the attic "for the ache, for the aunt," in other words, the plague. In folklore, twin brothers Anton and Atanas were blacksmiths who first invented the blacksmith tongs. Therefore Antonovden and Atanasovden (January 18) are also celebrated as the holiday of blacksmiths, ironmongers, cutlers and farriers. Names being clebrated today include: Anton, Andon, Doncho, Antonia, Donka, Tony. AGENTS OFFERED BERBATOV, TORRES TO PSG - COACH Manchester United's Dimitar Berbatov and Chelsea's Fernando Torres were among the players offered by agents to French giants PSG, their new coach Carlo Ancelotti has stated. "Since I signed for PSG I have received hundreds of calls from agents proposing their client: Falcao, Tevez, Torres, Berbatov, Pavlyuchenko, Cavani, Llorente," Ancelotti has told Gazzetta dello Sport. Ancelotti's revelation may mean that Berbatov and his agent may indeed be looking for a new club. The Bulgarian's future at Old Trafford seemed stable, as Sir Alex Ferguson announced that the club plans to offer him an option that cound extend his contract by another year. Berbatov's former club Bayer Leverkusen, as well as Bundesliga counterparts Bayern Munich, are reportedly interested in signing him. BULGARIA WITH NEW ATTEMPT TO INTRODUCE ILLEGAL ASSETS SEIZURE Bulgaria's ruling centrist-right GERB will try once again to pass a bill on the confiscation of unexplained wealth, the country's Justice Minister Diana Kovacheva has announced. The majority in Bulgaria's parliament surprisingly failed to pass through the keenly expected bill in July 2011, triggering fierce criticism in the EU and US, as well as suspicions of a set-up. The Council of Europe's Venice Commission approved the final, fifth version of the draft law in the middle of last year and recommended that it enters into force in 2012. Citizens who own assets worth more than BGN 250 000 could be investigated if the new piece of legislation is passed by the Bulgarian Parliament, it was made clear on Tuesday. The illegal property could be then seized by a civil court once an indictment is in place. Minister Diana Kovacheva has announced that the bill will be proposed by the end of January and that its main points will not be altered. Kovacheva pointed out that the bill will only affect organized crime groups and not the "ordinary people." MYSTERY SURROUNDS SUICIDE OF BULGARIAN MURDER SUSPECT The suspect arrested for the murder of a teen girl in the western city of Pernik, near Bulgaria's capital Sofia, who committed suicide as police searched his home, had been beaten by the latter, and his fingers broken. The news was reported Tuesday by the Bulgarian "Trud" (Labor) daily, citing relatives of the man – Stoycho Stoev AKA Chocho. His body was returned to them and they have buried him in the presence of a handful of people Sunday. After his arrest in the murder of Miroslava Nikolova,17, also from Pernik, Chocho, was brought home by the police. As the latter searched the apartment, he, as he was in handcuffs, according to the police, got hold of a pistol and shot himself in the head. Amidst numerous reports about botched police work, and a number of theories as to what happened, it remains unclear where the suspect was hiding the gun and how the policemen let him kill himself in their presence. If what the relatives say is true, there is no way Chocho, in or without handcuffs, could get a hold of a gun and kill himself. This explanation, however, contradicts the account of an eyewitness, cited by "Trud," who saw the detainee, visibly pale, but calm, and in good condition, enter the apartment building, escorted by policemen. The police report about the handcuffs also remains unconfirmed – no eyewitness can state firmly that they saw Stoycho in them. Two newspaper criminal reporters, who were notified by their own sources, were in front of the suspect's house on the day of the search and the suicide. They saw the arrival of Chocho and the police, but cannot answer if he was in handcuffs over the fact he was wearing a puffy winter jacket. Meanwhile, the largest private TV channel bTV reported that the man had taken the gun out of his personal safety vault. According to earlier accounts, Chocho had the gun hidden in the bathroom, then in a closet, and some media even claimed that he took a pistol out of the holster of one of the five policemen. bTV further informed that he managed to access the gun, which he legally owned, because there was no electric power inside the apartment and instead of watching him, the police were busy trying to restore it. At the same time, Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, stirred even more confusion, by telling the State TV, BNT, contrary to numerous earlier reports that this was the first search of the suspect's apartment, not the second one, stressing that if police came prior to the incident, they should have found and confiscated the gun. The Minister firmly rejected the possibility that Chocho got hold of a police gun and shot himself with it. All five policemen have been tested for gunpowder on their fingers to find out if any of them opened fire on Stoychev, but the authorities have not made the results available to the public. In the same interview, Tsvetanov said that Bulgarian policemen will be punished for their questionable behavior in the aftermath of the murder, explaining that "one or two" police officers will be disciplined for acting improperly towards the family of the victim. Later during the day Monday, the Interior Ministry announced that disciplinary proceeding has been launched against the Head of the Pernik Unit of the Directorate for Combatting Organized Crime, Hristo Zlatkov. The order has been signed by Tsvetanov, on grounds of information that the police officer has violated the Interior Ministry Act – behavior irreconcilable with the professional ethics code of police employees in the investigation of the kidnapping and murder of Nikolova. Eleonora - the sister of Miroslava Nikolova, whose dead body was discovered last week, has complained that an employee of the local unit for combatting organized crime has told her to "grab a gun and go look for her alone." Monday evening, Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, Tsvetanov, the Head of the Main Directorate for Combatting Organized Crime, GDBOP, Stanimir Florov, and the Chief of the Pernik Police, Valentin Dimitrov, met with Eleonora, who confirmed that Zlatkov had been very rude to her. His colleagues, however, defend him, saying he was keeping secrets from the sister in order to not tamper with the investigation. In the interview, the Interior Minister further criticized the Bulgarian judicial system for not keeping behind bars the other key suspect for the recent murder, 25-year-old Mario Lyubenov. Mario Lyubenov was reportedly a classmate of Borislav – boyfriend of Miroslava's sister, Eleonora. The girl was kidnapped because Borislav recently inherited a large amount of money and the perps planned to ask him for ransom. They told police they killed Miroslava because they had no means to take care of her. According to Tsvetanov, Mario had a criminal record over counterfeit money and making threats. On Sunday and Monday, residents of Bulgaria's of Pernik staged a protest with demands for justice and punishment of the perpetrators of the murder. The parents of the girl, her classmates, friends, mothers of other murdered children, gathered in front of the police precinct building in the city, saying they harbored strong doubts that the killers will be punished. At the Sunday rally, the mother of the murdered teen demanded a five-member psychiatry expert panel to examine Mario, saying she did not believe in his schizophrenia diagnosis and that anyone can get a piece of paper, after paying accordingly. Mario is currently listed in a psychiatry ward in Sofia – the so-called "4th Kilometer" hospital. The Pernik psychiatry expert, who works for the local Court, Robert Krumov, firmly rejected Mario's schizophrenia diagnosis, and said he was simulating. During the Monday rally, about 200, mostly young people, gathered in Pernik. A group of local football fans had been the most vocal one, shouting slogans like "Borisov Must Die," "The Cop Must Die," etc. The teenager disappeared on November 7, 2011 and was missing ever since. On the fatal day, the girl went to her regular taekwondo training and never went back home. Friends said she was in good spirits while in the sports hall and there were no signs of the tragedy that unfolded later on. Borisov's controversial remarks on the murder case stirred criticism in the Bulgarian media and in social networks towards the end of the last week. Authorities suspected the girl may have run away from home or had been trafficked aboard as a white slave. Some assumed that she may have fallen in love with someone who is part of a scheme for human trafficking and voluntarily fled the country - speculations her sister has dismissed as "ridiculous". Miroslava left her home without documents or money. PROSECUTOR CONTRADICTS POLICE IN BULGARIA'S PERNIK TEEN MURDER The Regional Prosecutor in the Bulgarian western city of Pernik, near the capital Sofia, Plamen Naydenov, rejected reports that he had been present during the search of the apartment of a suspect, who committed suicide in the presence of police. The Bulgarian "Capital" weekly had finally managed to reach the Prosecutor, who so far had declined to speak in public. The information he had provided, however, stirred even more confusion about the actions of the police. After his arrest in the murder of Miroslava Nikolova, 17, also from Pernik, Stoycho Stoev AKA Chocho, was brought home by the police. As the latter searched the apartment, he, as he was in handcuffs, according to the police, got hold of a pistol and shot himself in the head. Amidst numerous reports about botched police work, and a number of theories as to what happened, it remains unclear where the suspect was hiding the gun and how the policemen let him kill himself in their presence. According to several controversial accounts, Chocho had the gun hidden in the bathroom, then in a closet, and some media even claimed that he took a pistol out of the holster of one of the five policemen. Meanwhile, the largest private TV channel bTV reported that the man had taken the gun out of his personal safety vault. bTV further informed that he managed to access the gun, which he legally owned, because there was no electric power inside the apartment and instead of watching him, the police were busy trying to restore it. The Prosecutor, cited by "Capital," denied being present in person, but explained that an investigator and several police officers were inside the apartment. He said that there was also a security system and the suspect had to turn if off by cutting the cable himself – a statement that casts new doubt that Chocho had been handcuffed. No eyewitness so far has been able to confirm the story about the handcuffs. Naydenov explained that there was electric power inside the apartment, but no lamps, and this is why the place was dark. He collaborated with the lead that the man went to the bathroom, where he shot himself. The intended search of the place never materialized since it was halted by the suicide incident. The Prosecutor further informed that the suspect had been interrogated twice and had to take the police twice to the location where the body was buried, because the first time was in the evening and he got disoriented. He further contradicted reports Chocho owned the gun legally, saying the ownership is still being established, including the theory that it belonged to one of the policemen at the scene, citing pending tests. Regarding claims of the sister of the murdered girl that she received a phone call from Miroslava, immediately after she went missing, where the latter told her she has been kidnapped and policemen were involved, Naydenov pointed out that the authorities are working on all leads, but declined confirming if such conversation had, indeed, happened, over the ongoing investigation. He also commented on statements of the Head of the Main Directorate for Combatting Organized Crime, GDBOP, Stanimir Florov, that Stoev was promised to become a protected witness by saying the following; "The Penal Code is clear who has what authority and who presses charges – it is the Prosecutor's Office. It is pointless to even discuss what status could be offered to Stoev since he is no longer alive, but as a principle, possible collaboration with the investigation is decided on much later in the proceedings." Naydenov further stressed that the legally mandated deadline for his office in such cases is two months and everyone was working hard to adhere to it. He pointed out he understood the expectations of the public and the media, but clarified this was a serious case, requiring lots of effort. The teenager disappeared on November 7, 2011. Her body was discovered last week. BULGARIAN NGO SLAMS POLICE WORK IN TEEN MURDER CASE The kidnapping and murder of a Bulgarian teen girl in the western city of Pernik, near Sofia, involves some very controversial theories, confusing explanations, and mindboggling facts, according to the Chairman of the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, BHC, NGO, Krasimir Kanev. "How is it possible for a man, guarded by some of the most qualified police officers, to commit suicide, on top of it while being handcuffed? Even a village watchman would not have allowed it," Kanev told Nova TV Tuesday. One day earlier, the NGO voiced strong doubt in police explanations in the murder of Miroslava Nikolova, 17, whose body was discovered last week, and particularly in the suicide of the main suspect Stoycho Stoev AKA Chocho, who shot himself in the head in the presence of police, who were searching his apartment. Kanev stressed BHC and the public are expecting clear answers not only from the police, but from the Prosecutor's Office, including if policemen were involved in the kidnapping and the murder. Miroslava's sister Eleonora insists that after the kidnapping, the two had one telephone conversation, and Miroslava managed to tell her that policemen were involved in the crime. The kidnappers however never called to set their conditions. The NGO further slammed Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, for excusing the botched investigation and the blunders with the "exhaustion and fatigue" of all involved. Regarding the second suspect, Mario Lybenov AKA The Rabbit, who is currently listed in a Sofia psychiatry ward, Kanev forecasted that he will be either declared sane and fit to stand trial or will be kept in the psychiatry. Setting him free would not be an option, he said. Miroslava Nikolova's dead body was found by the police in the suburbs of the city about 11 am last Thursday after two months of active search, which involved the information systems of Schengen and Interpol. Authorities suspected the girl may have been trafficked aboard as a white slave. Some assumed that she may have fallen in love with someone who is part of a scheme for human trafficking and voluntarily fled the country. Many locals were inclined to believe that the missing girl ran away from home, a speculation her sister has dismissed as "ridiculous". Miroslava left her home without documents or money. LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL SWITCHED OFF! An excerpt from an order, issued by Bulgaria's Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Simeon Djankov. "As part of our efforts to keep the budget deficit under control, it is imperative that we switch off the light at the end of the tunnel!" GERMAN SOCIALIST MARTIN SCHULTZ ELECTED EP PRESIDENT German social democrat Martin Schultz has been elected President of the European Parliament, following a vote in Strasbourg on January 17. Schultz won the post with 387 votes out of 670 cast thanks to the support of the European People's Party (EPP). He won against two competitors, Diana Wallis, a liberal but running as an independent, and Nirj Deva, from the center-right European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group. Schulz will replace European People's Party's Jerzy Buzek, who has steered the European Parliament since mid-2009, and will lead the EP until the next round of European elections in June 2014. The post is mostly ceremonial, international news agencies remind. EP sources have termed Schulz's victory "unsurprising", saying that it was the result of a deal between the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) and the European People's Party (EPP). "I intend to carry out the office of President of the European Parliament in such a way that those who voted for me today can take pride in having done so, and those who did not vote for me today are pleasantly surprised. I will be the president of all members of the European Parliament and defend your rights!", Schultz said in his inaugural speech. Stressing the current time of crisis for the EU, he argued that "our interests can no longer be separated from those of our neighbors. Either we all lose, or we all win". "I will not be an amenable President," he said, but "a President who will do everything in his power to win back lost public trust in the European integration process and restore public enthusiasm for Europe". Schulz' election as EP President leaves a vacancy at the post of Socialist group leader. The post is expected to be filled by Austrian deputy Hannes Swoboda. His rival, British candidate Stephen Hughes, is seen as having suffered "collateral damage" from the UK's recent decision to block member states from making an EU Treaty change. This week will also see the election of 14 quaestors (MEPs in charge of administrative affairs) and vice-presidents. The following week is likely to see a shake-up of committee chairs, with some names emerging already. News portal EUobserver predicts that German center-right MEP Elmar Brok will take over the foreign affairs committee from Italian Gabriele Albertini. In return, a center-right Italian is to take over the industry committee, currently held by a German. German Liberal MEP Wolf Klinz is to take over the budget control committee. It remains uncertain whether British Liberal Sharon Bowles will hold onto the economic and monetary affairs committee or cede to one of her colleagues, such as Belgian Liberal Sylvie Goulard. WIKIPEDIA TO SHUT DOWN FOR 24 HOURS TO PROTEST ANTI-PIRACY LAW Jimmy Wales, cofounder of free online encyclopedia Wikipedia, has decided to shut down the website for 24 hours Wednesday to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). In doing so, Wikipedia joins a long list of web companies that are taking similar measures against the controversial antipiracy bill, cnet.com announced. "Final details under consideration but consensus seems to be for 'full' rather than 'soft' blackout!, Wales said. Last week, the news aggregation site, Reddit, announced it would shut down for 12 hours on Wednesday to express its displeasure with SOPA and Protect IP, its Senate counterpart. Other sites, including the Cheezburger Network, home to massively popular Internet meme sites like I Can Has Cheezburger, have also said they will join Wednesday's "black out" protest. The two bills are backed by a wide group of copyright owners, including major record companies and Hollywood film studios, who say that online piracy has damaged their business. However, Web companies and human rights groups have asserted that the proposed legislation will harm harm freedom of expression online and will create new tools for censorship of international websites inside the US. "We have no indication that SOPA is fully off the table. We need to send Washington a BIG message," Wales wrote on Twitter. Wikipedia will be inaccessible for 24 hours and the outage will affect only the English language version of the site. IRAN BANS 'DECADENT' BARBIE DOLLS Iranian authorities are cracking down on the sale of Barbie dolls in the country, as the morality police fear they may erode Islamic values. Shopkeepers in Iran have been forced to keep the famous blonde behind other toys in order to satisfy popular demand without being sanctioned by the police, according to international media. In 2002, Iran introduced two dolls – Sara, a female who adheres to the local dress code, and Dara, male – in an attempt to curb the Western culture from spreading in the country. However, Iranian kids still seem to fancy Barbie, reports say. The Islamic Republic's rulers have put efforts into chasing away western cultural influences from the country since its Islamic revolution overthrew a western-backed king in 1979. SWOBODA ELECTED TO REPLACE SCHULZ AS S&D LEADER Austrian MEP Hannes Swoboda was elected leader of the Socialists and Democrats group in the European Parliament after the group's former leader Martin Schulz took over as EP President. Swoboda received 102 votes, beating Catherine Trautmann, a French MEP, who received 45 votes. Stephen Hughes, a UK MEP, came third with 37 votes, European Voice has informed. Upon getting elected, Swoboda vowed that the Socialists and Democrats will do everything possible to fight with the neo-liberal approach that is currently dominating the EU debate. The new S&D leader will serve until June 2014 when the Parliament's mandate ends. Earlier on Tuesday, Martin Schultz was elected EP President with 387 votes out of 670 cast thanks to the support of the European People's Party (EPP). He won against two competitors, Diana Wallis, a liberal but running as an independent, and Nirj Deva, from the center-right European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group. Schulz will replace European People's Party's Jerzy Buzek, who has steered the European Parliament since mid-2009. BULGARIAN POLICE WORK - THIS IS NOT CSI The dead body of a Bulgaria teen, Miroslava Nikolova, 17, was found by the police in the suburbs of the western city of Pernik last Thursday after two months of active search, which involved the information systems of Schengen and Interpol. For two months, in attempt to reinforce the bragging that kidnappings in Bulgaria have finally come to an end with GERB's rule and police work, the authorities tried to convince the parents and the public that the girl was either trafficked abroad as a white slave or ran away from home, and was "drinking cocktails in Germany" (per statements of the anti-Mafia Unit Head, Stanimir Florov). When the body was discovered, the Interior Ministry trumped a huge success in solving a serious crime case. The glory was, however, quickly dimmed by the suicide of one of the main suspects, who while in handcuffs and guarded by police, took out a gun and shot himself in the head, during a search of his apartment. Amidst a number of theories as to what happened, it remains unclear where the suspect was hiding the gun and how special task force policemen let him kill himself in their presence. No eyewitness has confirmed the story of the suspect being handcuffed either. Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, Florov, experts from the Institute for Psychology at the Interior Ministry, the Pernik Regional Prosecutor, and a number of other officials, invaded media with contradicting and mindboggling information about the gun, the search of the apartment, the confessions, the polygraph test and so on, and so on... The only certain thing that emerged is that Bulgarian law enforcement cannot present any solid evidence in their investigation and is instead weaving a web of deception, controversy, insults, threats, science fiction stories and preposterous excuses about exhausted policemen to cover-up for incompetence and botched police work. With the one suspect dead and the other diagnosed with schizophrenia, it is obvious that confessions and proof will not hold water in the courtroom – magistrates will once again take the blame; one more serious criminal case will remain unsolved; perps will be left unpunished; there will be no resignations and dismissals, and the public will never learn the truth. As John Beyrle, former US Ambassador to Bulgaria, put it in a cable about the murder of top Bulgarian banker, Emil Kyulev, and the work of local law enforcement, citing one of his Bulgarian contacts, who told him ruefully: "This is not CSI." |
Bulgarian Police Work - This Is Not CSI
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