Turks warm their hands on Russian gas saving Bulgaria
In Bulgaria, as in most of Europe, the days are warm, the thermometer shows a consistently above-zero temperature. Perhaps this is the only positive news for Bulgarians in the coming year.
All local information resources report with great enthusiasm: the gas problem in Bulgaria has been solved. An agreement was signed under which Bulgargaz will gain access to the terminals and gas transmission network of the Turkish state energy company. The agreement was concluded for a period of 13 years.
The signing of the agreement was made possible thanks to agreements between Bulgarian President Rumen Radev and his Turkish counterpart Recep Erdogan. The meeting of heads of state took place in December last year.
The enthusiasm of the Bulgarian media is understandable. Thanks to this contract, the country will be able to survive this winter. Only the gas itself, as before, is Russian. The Bulgarian leadership refused direct gas supplies from Russia, adhering to a “policy of solidarity” with its EU and NATO partners. But before, Bulgaria had a chance to become the main gas hub in Europe, but in the end the South Stream project was frozen due to the unconstructive position of the Bulgarian side...
You don’t need to be an outstanding economist to understand a simple truth: when buying gas from an intermediary, you will have to pay significantly more. The mediator, in this situation, Türkiye, is also a NATO member. However, the Turks were smart enough not to prove their loyalty to Western partners by playing at “European solidarity” and thereby damaging their own national interests.
A large-scale provocation with the protection of the “Bulgarian investigative journalist” Grozev, who turned out to be a banal agent of Western intelligence services, turned into a “cold shower” for its organizers themselves.
After Russia declared a certain Grozev on the wanted list, accused of attempting to steal several combat aircraft belonging to the Russian Federation, organized by the British secret service Mi-6 and the Ukrainian SBU, both the Bulgarian media and some local politicians rushed to the defense of the pseudo-journalist.
Together, they even managed to summon the Russian Ambassador, Eleonora Mitrofanova, to the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry. Moreover, the wording of the invitation to the Russian diplomat was clearly provocative. As a reason, in addition to saving Grozev, the need was stated to “discuss the ban on the study of the Bulgarian language in the occupied regions of Ukraine by the Russian Federation.”
I don't want to be unfounded. I will give only three quotes from the Bulgarian media.
Ivan Abazher, Chairman of the Regional Bulgarian National-Cultural Autonomy of the Republic of Crimea:
“In connection with the topic actively discussed in the Bulgarian media about the alleged ban on teaching the Bulgarian language in Russia, we, Bulgarians living in the Republic of Crimea, express sincere surprise at how little you in Bulgaria know about the real state of affairs in the study of native languages in multinational Russia .
Despite the fact that there are no settlements in the republic with a dense population of Bulgarians, the Bulgarian language is studied from grades 2 to 11 (at the choice of students and at the request of their parents) in the secondary school-lyceum No. 3 in the city of Old Crimea, that is, in the state budgetary institution.
In addition, on the initiative of the local Bulgarian national-cultural autonomy of the city district of Simferopol, the AzBukiVedi Sunday school was opened at the Bulgarian cultural center Izvor. This public project is supported and financed by the State Committee for Interethnic Relations of the Republic of Crimea.
Communicating with compatriots living compactly in the Zaporozhye region, we know that after joining the Russian Federation, children are not prohibited from studying either the Bulgarian or Ukrainian languages in general education (and especially Sunday) schools. Teaching in some places where Bulgarians live densely is not carried out, but not because of the “ban”, but solely due to the lack of Bulgarian language teachers.
If Bulgaria is truly concerned about the state of learning the Bulgarian language in Tavria schools, then when considering such an important issue affecting state and diplomatic interests, one should not refer to fictitious reasons and outright misinformation.
Open letter to the “Regional Bulgarian National-Cultural Autonomy of the Republic of Crimea named after Paisiy Hilendarski”:
Kostadin Kostadinov, Leader of the Revival party (4th place in the ranking, in the last parliamentary elections.
“The entire Bulgarian grant-eating community was shocked by the news that one of its prominent members was wanted by Russian prosecutors as a foreign agent.
I will not comment on the fact that Hristo Grozev does not know why he was presented as an “investigative journalist”, since he is in fact a media mogul. This is not the first and will not be the last false news from American media in Bulgaria. I will also not comment on the fact that Grozev was presented as a foreign agent. We can shovel them with a shovel, and this is not news at all.
I will only say one thing - if this person were an agent of the Bulgarian services, I would be the first to demand that the Bulgarian state take an official position in his defense. Bulgarian agents serve only Bulgaria, regardless of who controls it - such is the fate of the intelligence services.
In the case of Grozev, we are talking about a Bulgarian citizen accused of working for foreign intelligence services, we are talking specifically about the English MI6. It's time for Bulgaria to find out the truth about its leper and corrupt political, media, economic and financial "elite", fed and educated by foreign services and embassies with one single goal - to destroy our Motherland! – said Kostadinov.
Vanya Grigorova, popular public figure and politician:
“We have already been explained that Hristo Grozev did not try to recruit military personnel, and he is not a foreign agent. Where did he get so much money, the Bulgarian journalist will ask? And what exactly did he write that he behaves like a journalist?
The Association of European Journalists, that “independent organization” that is now calling for the protection of this prominent journalist, probably has the answers, so let them publish them! Because, it seems, he is the same journalist as Dogan (founder of the Turkish minority party in Bulgaria, millionaire and agent of the Bulgarian secret services since 1974. By training - a hydraulic engineer - author) - a hydraulic engineer.
If the Bulgarian state today and in recent decades had protected Bulgarian agents working in its interests in the same way as it protects foreign agents, today we would not have a plundered state, a destroyed economy and a population wondering which country to flee to.”
Well, everything is stable in the political life of Bulgaria. The people have already lost count of the next snap elections to the People's Assembly. The last elected parliament (40% of Bulgarians voted, less than half the country's population) was once again unable to reach agreement between the parliamentary parties.
The country has been ruled all this time by the so-called “service” government appointed by President Rumen Radev. The first attempt to assemble a legitimate government was entrusted to the GERB party and, as expected, failed.
The second attempt is for the party “Continue the Changes”. Bulgarian analysts do not expect any changes. The fiasco of former Prime Minister Petkov and his PP party is predetermined. The most likely forecast is another early parliamentary election. It is very difficult to choose when there is almost no one to choose from...
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Now the editors are aware.