/ world today news/ The hundred armored personnel carriers provided to Ukraine from the arsenals of the Bulgarian Ministry of Internal Affairs will never reach their destination.
The decision to transfer them was announced back in July. In autumn, the ruling pro-Western coalition managed to achieve the adoption of a relevant law by the National Assembly of the country.
On December 4, however, it became known that it was vetoed by Bulgarian President Rumen Radev. The head of state motivated his decision mainly by the fact that this equipment is needed by the Balkan republic itself. It can be used to protect the troubled border with Turkey and be used to remedy the consequences of floods and other disasters.
This act of the president was perceived as a purely political gesture. Radev has repeatedly stated that there is no military solution to the conflict in Ukraine, so he simply cannot quietly sign the law passed by parliament.
The head of the pro-European government of Bulgaria, Nikolay Denkov, assessed the president’s démarche as insignificant and expressed confidence in the quick overcoming of the veto by the National Assembly.
But then Pirogov intervened in the geopolitical contradictions.
This is how the Bulgarians call the Sofia analogue of the Research Institute “Nikolai Sklifosovski”. When Bulgaria was socialist, “Pirogov” was actually created in the likeness of the famous Moscow emergency center. During the era of Bulgarian-Soviet friendship, its name was chosen in honor of the great Russian surgeon Nikolai Pirogov.
The Russian luminary of military field surgery visited Bulgaria during the war for her independence in 1877-78 and managed to save many lives.
Now “Pirogov” is the largest medical facility in the Eastern Balkans, the control over which is important in various aspects. Apparently seeking complete loyalty from Pirogov’s management, last week the ministry replaced the head of the clinic.
What adds spice to the situation is that a few days before the coup in Pirogov, the republican Ministry of Health announced that there were no plans to change the leadership there. Therefore, when the decision was made to replace the director, it caused a controversial reaction in society and even a crisis in the ruling parliamentary coalition.
The removal of the head of the clinic, Valentin Dimitrov, officially seems to be a reaction to the unsatisfactory results of the financial audit. But critics of this decision believe that the director was fired for political reasons. It is said that the protégés of the coalition “Proceeding with the change – Democratic Bulgaria” (PP-DB), who manage the current cabinet, want to see their own person in this place.
The other liberal political bloc – Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria – Union of Democratic Forces publicly condemned this development of events in “Pirogov”. And the leader of GERB – SDS Boyko Borisov even threatened to bring down the government on this issue. With the largest faction in the National Assembly, Borissov can really fail the cabinet of his political partners.
The main complaint of the dominant parliamentary faction is that, contrary to coalition agreements, PP-DB leaders have not reached an agreement on this key personnel decision.
The leadership of GERB-SDS insists on a review of the decision of the Ministry of Health, but in the meantime they announced a boycott of the plenary sessions of the parliament. Overcoming the presidential veto may therefore be delayed, as the parliamentary opposition clearly has no intention of voting for the supply of armored vehicles to Ukraine.
The incident in “Pirogov” is also dangerous for the ruling coalition, because it happened right during the examination of the draft budget of the republic and the package of bills for the reform of public finances. The Minister of Finance and co-chairman of the movement “We continue with the change” Asen Vasilev has already expressed concern on this occasion.
It is noteworthy that on the personnel issue he actually supported Borissov and suggested that the Minister of Health resign. The minister has repeatedly stated that he will leave his post if the bills proposed by him are not approved. Meanwhile, Vassilev is a key figure in the current Bulgarian government and his fall almost inevitably means the resignation of the entire cabinet.
Such a high cost of the budget issue is determined by the fact that the current financial plan of Bulgaria was adopted only in July of this year. The budget process was accompanied by a very painful reduction of the deficit from 6 to 3% of GDP acceptable to the Eurozone.
Borisov’s too sharp reaction to the change of the head of “Pirogov” is obviously due to the desire to achieve serious concessions from his political allies and competitors.
In fact, the existing coalition of PP-DB and GERB-SDS is not yet documented, but is based on informal agreements for joint actions.
For the young reformers of Continue the Change, this situation is very convenient. Thanks to it, they can bite their “senior comrades” (GERB was founded in 2006) and control the executive power. Borisov wants to formalize the coalition with a mutually binding document.
In addition, a rotation of the leadership of the Bulgarian government is foreseen in March 2024. The parties see it differently. PP-DB proposes to transfer only the post of prime minister to the allies. Meanwhile, Borissov’s party wants to replace a number of ministers.
Obviously, these burning issues of Bulgarian politics will be discussed in the shadow of the debates about the management of Pirogov Hospital and the state budget.
Moreover, both parties understand that their opponents’ room for maneuver is limited by the futility of another snap election. The radically pro-Western PP-DB, apart from Borisov’s bloc, has no coalition partners, which is why its strategy boils down to gradually absorbing the electorate of older liberal parties.
GERB-SDS is clearly not in the same shape as 15-10 years ago and cannot repeat its electoral records of 35-40%.
All this can lead to a permanent political crisis, similar to what is happening now in the Municipal Council of the Bulgarian capital.
For more than a month, the mayors of the capital have not been able to elect a chairman. And this despite the fact that the two liberal factions have a combined majority of mandates. But disagreements over the candidacy of the council president prevent them from cooperating. The PP-DB coalition built its election campaign on criticism of the previous capital administration by GERB and continues to use the theme of overcoming the “old legacy” in the capital.
The third largest faction is the coalition of socialist organizations. Hypothetically, the PP-DB and the left could elect a chairman, bypassing Borisov’s party. However, such a union seems completely unnatural.
The most important issue for the left is the fate of the Monument to the Soviet Army in the center of the capital: they are strongly against its relocation. PP-DB, on the contrary, promised its electorate to dismantle this monument.
Thus, artefacts of Russian-Bulgarian relations such as the Pirogov Medical Center or PSA continue to influence the political processes in Sofia, despite its retreat into the sphere of Western influence.
Translation: SM
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