Bulgaria, Greece 'Think Alike' on Key Issues - Borisov
Sofia and Athens share the same views on crucial regional issues Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has said after his meeting with Greek counterpart Alexis Tsipras.
It's official: Bulgaria has said "no" to the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline project four years after signing the trilateral agreement for its implementation.
The reason behind the decision of the government was the newly established economic and financial unfeasibility of the scheme.
Curiously enough, the cabinet arrived at the conclusion straight after a positive environmental impact assessment (EIA) by Trans-Balkan Pipeline, the operator of the Burgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline project, which had been returned for revision three times.
If the dire global economic and financial situation is the actual motive for the decision, then a special Bulgarian thank you should go out to the crisis.
Bulgarians, Burgas residents most of all, are triumphant that they will avoid a natural disaster waiting to happen.
Before they can rejoice, however, Bulgarians will have to settle a bill of BGN 12.8 M in unpaid installments by the state as a shareholder in the joint Bulgarian-Greek-Russian venture.
Opinions as to whether the withdrawal will incur sanctions vary at this stage.
It is unfortunate that Bulgaria will have to sacrifice substantial financial resources to pull out of the project, but the fortunate thing is that it has summoned the courage to oppose a budding initiative aimed at further entrenching Russia's energy monopoly.
Contrary to the claims of outgoing President Parvanov, who referred to them as a "grand slam" on the way to energy security, the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline, the South Stream gas pipeline and the Belene NPP, could only send Bulgaria back into Russia's embrace.
The government has done right to forsake an as yet unspecified amount of transit fees and a certain number of new job places in exchange for an oil-spill-safe Black Sea coast, undisturbed natural areas and an unscathed tourism industry.
If the crisis is an opportunity, as the modern saying goes, for Bulgaria, then why not shed other unwholesome commitments?
Shale gas might be a good suggestion?
If we look at history, there are not many cases in which relations between Bulgaria and Russia at the state level were as bad as they are at the moment.
The term “Iron Curtain” was not coined by Winston Churchill, but it was he who turned it into one of the symbols of the latter part of the twentieth century by using it in his famous Fulton speech of 1946.
Hardly anything could be said in defense of the new government's ideological profile, which is quite blurry; at the same time much can be disputed about its future "pro-European" stance.
Look who is lurking again behind the corner – the tandem of Advent International and Deutsche Bank, respectively the buyer of the Bulgarian Telecom Company in 2004 and the advisor of the Bulgarian government in the sweetest deal of the past decade, seem t
We have seen many times this circus which is being played out during the entire week and it only shows one thing - there is no need of a caretaker government in Bulgaria.
You have certainly noticed how many times President Rosen Plevneliev used the phrase “a broad-minded person” referring to almost every member of his caretaker government.
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