The Cooperation and Verification Mechanism can encourage Bulgarian-Romanian interaction

The poster of the podcast Rule of Law Rules (source: https://rolr.podigee.io/)

The founder of the “Bridge of Friendship” blog gave an interview to the podcast of the Konrad Adenauer Romania Foundation about the rule of law in Bulgaria and Bulgarian-Romanian relations

Vladimir Mitev

Vladimir Mitev was invited as a guest on the podcast Rule of Law Rules of the Konrad Adenauer Romania Foundation. In the episode released on April 7, 2021, Vladimir spoke about the rule of law in Bulgaria, the over-personalized political system (under the aegis of Prime Minister Boyko Borissov), the prosecution, which is in question, and public sentiment about the rule of law and anti-corruption discourse. In addition, Vladimir spoke about the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism and how it could influence Bulgarian-Romanian relations by allowing the two countries to have their own initiative internationally.

The Romanian government is threatening unions after a protest in the Bucharest metro

Radu Stochita is an author of a popular column on trade union struggles in Romania on the website Baricada România and maintains a Telegram channel for workers struggles in Romania and around the world (source: The Barricade)

The dissatisfaction of the transport workers exacerbated the conflict between the right-wing government of Florin Cîţu and the labour unions

Vladimir Mitev

Romanian Prime Minister Florin Cîţu is seeking to sanction protesters in the Bucharest metro on Friday, which he described as “illegal”, according to the Ziare website. The Prime Minister said he would be looking for culprits to repair the damage, state institutions to help citizens and companies to recover the losses, and the payment of protesters be reduced by one day. Labour union leaders said on Friday that their dissatisfaction was due to a possible shortage of staff and risk at salary cuts. Transport Minister Cătălin Drulă however believes that the real reason for starting the protests are the economic interests related to a trade union company, with labour union being run by former member of parliament from the Social Democratic Party Ion Radoi. The labour union company manages retail spaces in the subway.

To learn more about the protest and what follows after that, the Bulgarian National Radio approached Radu Stochiţă. He is a student and author of a popular column on trade union struggles in Romania on the website Baricada România. He also maintains a Telegram channel for workers’ struggles in Romania and around the world. The interview was broadcast and published on the BNR website on March 29, 2021.

Livia Nistor: Contemporary Bulgarian literature is marked by local-universal contradiction

Livia Nistor (source: Livia Nistor)

Interview with the author of the first Romanian research on contemporary Bulgarian literature: what is observed in the evolution of the Bulgarian novel before and after 1989?

Vladimir Mitev

Doctor Livia Nistor studied Bulgarian at the University of Bucharest, where she graduated in Bulgarian philology in 2008. In 2020 she defended her doctoral thesis “The Bulgarian novel in the postmodern era”, in which she analyzed Bulgarian novels from the 60s to the beginning of the 21st century. She currently works as a language trainer.

Why does Borissov always survive?

Vladimir Mitev (source: The Bridge of Friendship)

An interview about the Bulgarian election campaign on the eve of the 4th April 2021 parliamentary elections: what parties will enter parliament, what happens to the left and the populists, what is the secret of Borisov’s longevity in politics and what are the worst scandals in election times

Maria Cernat

Vladimir Mitev is the editor of Barricade Romania. He has been dealing with international journalism since 2008. In the last 5-6 years he writes constantly in Romanian. Articles and interviews with him have appeared in Decât o Revistă, Critic Atac, Q Magazine, Magazine 22 and some cultural media in Romania.

This interview was given to the Barricade Romania on 26 March 2021.

Romanian vaccination advances better than the Bulgarian one

Moldovans who have Romanian passport will be able to get the vaccine in Romania (source: Vladimir Mitev)

Interview on the specifics of the Romanian vaccination campaign, on Bucharest’s plans to vaccinate 10 million people by autumn, on anti-vaccination sentiment and on Romanian vaccination diplomacy in the Republic of Moldova

Georgi Markov

This interview was broadcast on 16 March 2021 in the emission “Something more” of the Bulgarian National Radio, programme Horizon.

Romania has announced that it continues vaccination with Astra Zeneca, after the country’s authorities decided to continue the immunization campaign against COVID-19 with all products permitted at European level. Now we will talk about the course of the campaign in our northern neighbor in the next few minutes with our colleague Vladimir Mitev – creator of the site for news from Romania and Bulgaria “The Friendship Bridge” and a person knowledgeable about the processes in Romania.

Bulgarian justice is a litmus test for developments in society

Laura Codruţa Koveşi – the chief prosecutor of the European prosecutor’s office is lauded by the opponents of the Bulgarian chief prosecutor as his illuminated alternative (source: Wikipedia Commons)

Bulgaria’s national and international political contradictions revolve around corruption and the rule of law

Vladimir Mitev

This article was published at the English section of the Bulgarian site “The Barricade”.

Bulgarian judiciary has been at the center of political talks and clashes for more than 9 months since the protests began in the summer of 2020. They erupted after prosecutors stormed the president’s office, searching the office of an employee close to Rumen Radev. The protests had, among other things, an anti-corruption agenda and an explicit accusation against the chief prosecutor Ivan Geşev that he is acting in a corrupt way, benefiting the oligarchy, represented by the businessman from the Movement for Rights and Freedoms party Delean Peevski. Following the protests, the president demanded the resignations of Geshev and Prime Minister Boiko Borisov and initiated several talks and actions related to judicial reform. At the same time, the organization Justice for All reminded of its vision of judicial reform, which will limit the prerogatives of the chief prosecutor and strengthen the power of judges in the judiciary.

Hristo Boev: “The Different Dobrudja” shows the need for cooperation between Bulgarians and Romanians

Hristo Boev (source. Hristo Boev)

Interview with the translator of Romanian literature and literary critic about his Bulgarian-Romanian study

Vladimir Mitev

Dobrudja divided Bulgarians and Romanians in the first part of the XX century. Can it unite them a century later? The literary critic and translator of Romanian literature Hristo Boev (Ph.D.) published in 2020 a book, called “The Different Dobrudja in the literature between the wars”. He studies how Bulgarians and Romanians saw each other, the literary descriptions of the towns in Southern Dobrudja, the military stories of Yordan Yovkov and George Topârceanu, what the Romanian press wrote about Bulgarians and other issues, which construct the literary and historical Bulgarian-Romanian consciousness. 

Romanian unions are a thorn in the side of the Cîțu cabinet

The Romanian prime minister Florin Cîţu (source: YouTube)

The government supports the business, but gradually eliminates the benefits of workers, explaining that austerity is a must

Vladimir Mitev

This article was published on 9th March 2021 on the Bulgarian section of the Barricade website.

The Romanian government started its operation in the days before Christmas 2020 and immediately took care of the application of its vision for change. This vision is based, on the one hand, on business support through public investments and EU funds and, on the other hand, on austerity for employees who were considered ”spoiled” or ”privileged” during the Social Democratic Party (which ruled until 2019).

Romania develops infrastructure links to the border with Bulgaria

The railway Bucharest-Giurgiu North will be modernised (source: Pixabay, CC0)

Florin Cîţu’s government cuts social benefits but invests in infrastructure

Vladimir Mitev

By the end of the year, a new road from the Danube Bridge border crossing to the Giurgiu-Bucharest road will be completed. This was announced by Romanian Transport Minister Catalin Drula. “One project that makes me proud is the connection with the DN5 road from the entrance from Bulgaria at the customs in Giurgiu. This will be a 6 km long expressway that will bypass Giurgiu. There will be four lanes of concrete. The previous concrete road gave defects in the 90s, but now the technology is new. There is an Austrian company that has built concrete runways in Romania. This way we will get rid of the shameful situation the moment we leave the customs. It was like Mars”, the transport minister announced on Digi FM’s “Comfortable Man” show.

The digitalisation of administrative services in the Republic of Moldova is irreversible

A chuch in Chisinau (sursă: Pixabay, CC0)

Interview with the Moldovan journalist Oleg Kosih about e-government in Bessarabia

Vladimir Mitev

This interview was broadcast on 16th February 2021 in the program “Something More” on the program “Horizon” on the Bulgarian National Radio.

Georgi Markov: Transparency in governance, facilitation of citizens and reduction of risks for citizens in direct contact with the administration. These are some of the ideas that the authorities in the Republic of Moldova are implementing by providing a number of administrative services electronically. This type of interaction is already familiar to citizens and they are used to it. If it is interrupted for any reason, they will seek responsibility for why they are deprived of this opportunity. This opinion was expressed by the Moldovan journalist and founder of the Bulgarian Spirit Foundation Oleg Kosih in a conversation with his colleague from the site “The Bridge of Friendship” Vladimir Mitev. Oleg Kosih recalls the way in which electronic services were formed in the Republic of Moldova and tells how people accept this idea.