/ world today news/ Desislava Pateva’s interview with sociologist Prof. Ivo Hristov
Prof. Hristov, how do you assess President Radev’s first steps on the political scene? Already with his first speech in the parliament, criticism rained down that it was focused on problems that a prime minister should deal with, while at the same time he failed to outline what the priorities of the institution he represents would be. Do you think this is so?
No, whatever Radev said, whatever he did, there would be people who were dissatisfied. And this stems from the simple fact that the president is Radev, and not someone else – let’s say Tsetska Tsacheva. Hence, all the political forces and their associated media minions wanted to see another deployment of forces. Naturally, they will not be satisfied with Radev. All visible and invisible pretexts for criticism are sought.
It was clear that in his speech, after taking the oath in the National Assembly, the state of the country would be outlined. For the first time, from such a platform, a head of state said that the country is in a terrible state, which is contrary to the politically correct stories of Plevneliev and the clique around him. First, Radev outlined these problems, secondly, he also outlined what the presidential institution can do because of the status assigned to it in the Constitution. He cannot solve all the problems that were a product of the Bulgarian transition and brought our country to an extremely tragic economic, political, social and spiritual state. With the options he has, he can at least start showing the problems, which is no small feat.
How do you assess the selection of the office cabinet? We are left with the impression that in his effort to distance himself from Cornelia Ninova and the attacks that she will determine the composition of the official cabinet, Radev has gone to the other extreme. He mainly chose figures who gravitate around the NDSV, although this political force has very little electoral support.
Radev was attacked for no reason, that he is hardly a creature of the BSP. I allowed myself to say even after the first round of the presidential elections that if the BSP thinks that they have chosen Radev, they are deeply mistaken. It is a completely different issue that almost the first concern of every Bulgarian journalist is, after the election of a given president, to ask him if he will emancipate himself from the power that nominated him. You do understand that this is stupid. Why should you nominate a candidate who then disowns you? It is clear that there is a connection between the candidate and the party. The point is for it to be intelligent, not to be in the form of a “Muppet Show”, as was the situation with Plevneliev and Borisov.
In the specific case, Radev clearly stated that the goals of this official cabinet are not to outline a third political force, alongside the BSP and GERB, as some imagine – almost certainly a presidential party structured around the executive power. He clearly and correctly said that the official cabinet has official functions. Formally, it has all the powers of a regular government, except that it cannot propose a budget and propose bills. But the entire remaining range of activities and acts issued by the Council of Ministers can be done by the caretaker government. Secondly, by putting emphasis on experts from the parliament, some of them from a political force with meager electoral possibilities within the statistical error, I mean the tsarist party, he clearly wants to show that he will really emphasize the expertise and the temporary nature of this cabinet. There are no politically neutral people. It’s also a silly cliché, like the cliché that the president should be depoliticized. It is the highest political office in the state.
What I would like to see happen is for this office to do a recapitulation of what was found. The skeletons GERB leaves in the closet are at least a dozen. If this thing is not done and not shown to the public, after time the negatives will reflect directly on Radev’s office. Second, if he makes such a recapitulation, the official cabinet will naturally immediately be accused of taking sides in the political struggle, of being used to attack GERB. But, as they say, there is no perfect happiness. Once you have assumed the role and participated in the political battle, because to be president is to participate in a political battle, not to be removed from it, you have to bear the corresponding negatives.
Some analysts are already commenting on the possibility of such a recapitulation, but note that there is too little time to inspect Borisov’s entire mandate…
Oh, I don’t know. Knowing what the electoral attitudes are, which are already coming to light, it is no wonder that this cabinet lasted half a year. As you know, there is such a maxim – “Temporary things are permanent”. In this case, I do not rule out such an option at all.
It became clear that the parliamentary elections are scheduled for March 26. How do you expect support to be distributed for political forces? We see that GERB and BSP have almost equalized their positions…
Which scares me from the point of view that objective prerequisites are being created for the allegedly forced formation of a coalition government – if not after the first, then after the second distribution. Figuratively speaking, if they do not succeed now, they will succeed after some extraordinary elections in the fall, which I do not rule out at all. In my opinion, someone is working hard in this direction. For me, a coalition government of BSP with GERB is absolutely unacceptable. Still, there must be something called political purity. But there are powerful factors pushing the party in just that direction.
But even after she was elected as the chairperson of the BSP, Cornelia Ninova declared that she had no intention of forming a coalition with GERB. Borisov’s party also denied such a possibility.
The last thing you can trust is the talk of politicians. As you know, Bismarck’s words are famous in this regard – the most lies are made before war, during elections and after hunting.
What will be the fate of the right-wing projects that are they constantly swarming? What is the reason for idealizing formations that recycle well-known anti-corruption slogans and be recognized as agents of change?
I treat the right in Bulgaria as a medical disease. We must treat him with the insistence of a doctor against a raging patient who does not understand the depth and meaning of his illness. In a poor society, such as the Bulgarian one, there cannot be a continuous swarm of right-wing projects. We are talking, of course, about laboratory projects, for which loan where they were conceived and how they are financed. The problem is that these are actually organizations with a paltry electoral potential, estimated at between 200,000 and 300,000 people, yet a disproportionately huge media presence. These people parade with all their pretentious arrogance and requests for morality in all the main Bulgarian media. Last but not least, they are given weight disproportionate to their actual capabilities.
Borisov, in the literal sense of the word, used them. Put them in posts in the most unpleasant ministries, where they were engaged in two main things – to steal and to develop their own representativeness. I don’t see how, if the election is fair, these people will get into parliament unless they unite. We know the warm feelings they have for each other, that is, they are like one big family. If they do get the order from above to unite, this motley company may well enter parliament once again to be used in coalition games of all kinds.
What are your expectations regarding Radev’s foreign policy? While the previous head of state strongly condemned Russia’s actions, Radev made requests for warming relations with Russia.
Is that bad? It has not yet been defined as a crime under the Penal Code. It’s not bad to look at the map. Russia occupies 1/6 of the landmass, it is one of the two super-nuclear powers. What does it mean that you have no ties to this country? This means being out of touch with earth’s gravity. Regarding Radev’s foreign policy, it is already clear that he will respect the commitments made by the country. It is no coincidence that his first visit was to the NATO headquarters in Mons and in Brussels. And for the previous president… Misunderstandings – intellectual, human, political, any, I will not comment.
Against the background of the new US President Donald Trump’s comments that the EU is collapsing and NATO is an obsolete military alliance, does Radev’s position sound logical to you, that he will not deviate from the Euro-Atlantic path and insist that our national interests be guaranteed in the unions in which we are members?
That is, that Radev bought a factory on September 8 versus September 9… First, the future of the EU is unclear, rather negative. The future of NATO is rather clear. He will be disciplined and begin to pay for himself. But that there is a reconfiguration of the main forces is more than clear. Just read the latest book by Henry Kissinger, who, despite his advanced age, has proven to be a powerful influence in Trump’s expert team. Russia and America, each on their own grounds, have no interest in a powerful Europe. For this reason, and because of the internal bankruptcy of the EU, it will clearly be defeated and decomposed. This does not at all mean that something else will not be created on his bones. We will likely monitor this process.
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