Maxim Behar: Really Enjoying The Intelligent Tone Of Politicians In Bulgaria These Days.

Host (Lora Inzhova): We are entering the political arena, the National Assembly in the building of the Council of Ministers, metaphorically of course, together with the PR experts Maxim Behar and Prof. Alexander Hristov. Hello, gentlemen, glad to see you!

Maxim Behar: Hello!

Host: I must confess to our viewers that before going on air we spoke about how the situation seems very calm, with a focus on rotation, possible changes in ministers, and even the upcoming EU Elections. Everything seems calm. We started wondering if this is the ,,calm before the storm’’ or if different formations have already worked out to the point where it doesn't matter anymore if there is a coalition agreement. What do you think?

Maxim Behar: We shared that this calmness is suspicious, even for what we've seen in Bulgaria over the past 20 years. However, I think it's not the calm before the storm but a completely logical and normal development of what is in Bulgarian politics. Even if a storm happens, what will follow? There will be new elections or a new temporary or unnecessary caretaker government? And when this storm passes, everything will come back again, and we'll lose time again, and there won't be Schengen, and there won't be no Eurozone. It seems that this is the only logical path. But look at those two people, Acad. Denkov and Maria Gabriel, how they behave. Look at how they behave among themselves. Look at how intelligently the ministers communicate. There are quite a few ministers, Bogdan Bogdanov, Vanya Shalapatova, Milena Stoycheva, and a bunch of other ministers who speak in a normal, understandable language.

Host: Alright, Prof. Hristov, what do you see?

Prof. Hristov: It is calm, but behind that calmness, there is another process more related to merging the behavior and speech of the two basic parts of this structure, on one hand, PP-DB, on the other hand, GERB, which affects communication. They have started to operate on the principle of "nothing can go wrong." The need for explanations regarding the scandal with the property that arose…

Host: The investigation by bird.bg on Asen Vassilev and Daniel Lorar?

Prof. Hristov: Yes, it's not well-explained. Perhaps tired or... having already adapted to various attacks, they are starting to back off, and perhaps this creates an impression of some calmness.

Host: Just one more thing, sorry, because it's within your expertise. Does this behavior exist? "We will not respond to everything to avoid turning it into a bigger scandal," which, in the case of a journalistic investigation, creates bigger concern for the political formation.

Prof. Hristov: Hard question. We don't know if, I don't know what mechanisms were used for making one or the other decision. We only know that the cart goes where the GERB cart went in 2014, 2015, 2016. They are getting entangled in such stories. They need to provide an explanation. If they are clean, they need to be explained. If not, then, of course, they need to stop. But that's why I talk about this merging between the one and the other because they started to influence each other communicatively. And yes, along with what we're talking about, the figures that come to the forefront create an impression of some calmness. It depends only on the mood in society if there will be a storm. I suspect that the mood in society is not revolutionary at all. It’s the opposite, following social media, conversations, and everything else. I think people prefer calmness rather than other things.

Host: What I meant the most is the storm in the relations between political formations. Between PP-DB, GERB-SDS, DBS. Are we expecting a storm there? And is it calm before the storm in their relations because heavy talks are ahead in February, for example, regarding ministerial reshuffles.

Maxim Behar: Well, that's exactly what I meant when I told you that I don't expect any storm because if there is a storm ... Society is clear for now, it's calm, relatively satisfied, knowing that even if it goes out on the street, it won't achieve much. There's no enemy, no clearly defined enemy, as there was in 2013. In 2019-2020... they knew, we want to remove Geshev, we want to remove Borisov. Now there's no enemy, no one to oppose. However, in political parties, I don't see any probability for , let's call it a storm or upheaval or rift or a big family scandal, because again we'll return to the same situation as a year ago or two years ago. The processes are quite good, on top of everything, what's happening in Europe, there is not a single country in Europe that does not have a shaky boat, internal contradictions. In many of the countries, there are such coalition governments, sometimes almost absurd. Some of them are temporary, there is rotation, in another one, two, three countries. And that's why I look at things very positively. Perhaps even a bit strange and absurd.

Host: Regarding the investigation by our colleagues from bird.bg and the communication response to this investigation by the ruling PP-DB, what will you say?

Maxim Behar: Well, I can guess what's going on in their heads without talking to any of them. They're probably saying, "Let's just keep quiet, it'll pass." Because many things have happened in the last 20 years and in previous years. I've spoken to politicians and told them, "Come out and tell the truth," because in 2024 you can't hide the truth. There's no way. There's no other option. We have social media, different people, different opinions, and I've heard this position before, they call it a strategy: "Let's keep quiet, it will pass." So, I think these people now believe it will pass. I don't know the facts, it's more related to the ethical side than the factual side, as far as I understand. However, the ethical side is also very important and often more crucial than anything else.

Host: Professor Hristov?

Prof. Hristov: Every miracle lasts for three days. This nice folklore saying: Every miracle lasts for three days. The problem is that modern miracles can be clearly identified if they last for three days or one day or if they last for three months. As communication specialists, from day one, we can determine this. They are not talking enough on this topic. There's not enough explanation on this topic. On the other hand, I see another conversation that gives me a very bad impression, and it's related to the very pleasant support that Desislava Atanasova gets for her candidacy as a constitutional judge from people in "We Continue the Change" and "Democratic Bulgaria." I think it was clearly stated by a former minister who spoke about this merger...

Host: By the way, recently, sorry to interrupt, I remember a publication from 2020 regarding Desi Atanasova as a lawyer by Hristo Ivanov. Quite an extreme statement. We also heard Atanas Slavov on BTV speaking a day ago, saying that Desislava Atanasova should not be criticized.

Prof. Hristov: Yes, and the former Minister of E-Government. It's not necessary. The support is clear. It is difficult to be accepted by the audience, by the voters, by the supporters of these political forces. There's no need to drag someone through the mud when you have to support the candidacy of your opponent from yesterday. You can just support it. The conversation should be redirected. Instead of artificial actions to unite the two or three components of this coalition or assembly, it's good to have more sensitivity towards the important topics of the day, towards what concerns people's sensitivity, and to address these issues.

Maxim Behar: In my opinion, the Constitutional Court is the highest authority when it comes to justice in Bulgaria. And politicians have no place there. I'm not talking about Desislava Atanasova; I haven't seen her much. Maybe once or twice by chance. We greeted each other. I am talking about every politician. Only and exclusively professional lawyers who know the matter, who have followed it over the years, should be there... Well, it doeens’t matter if they'll choose Desislava Atanasova or Atanas Desislavov. They'll choose; there will be a politician who will enter the Constitutional Court. All this doesn't smell good to me. Therefore, politicians should stay in politics, in parliament, defend their concepts, make laws if they can, but in the highest authorities of justice, especially in the Constitutional Court, there should be, in my opinion, only lawyers. No one else!

Host: And, gentlemen, at the end of the conversation, let's look at the European elections. What do you think about the campaign that anti-European formations will build in the Bulgarian Parliament. Eurosceptics in the Bulgarian Parliament, putting up their candidates for European Parliament. For me personally, this will be a very interesting campaign.

Prof. Hristov: These political forces are, let’s say, in a kind of chess game with the start of such a campaign because they are running for something they are against. And they always have to find a way to explain it and justify their behavior. However, combined with the traditionally low interest of people in European elections, and this traditionally low interest is caused by something very simple, that Europe is still an abstraction. Europe has not been explained well enough to Bulgarians for quite a long time. Perhaps, no matter how aggressive the campaign is, and it can't be, it won't contribute much to the activation of society or to the division between the two sides.

Maxim Behar: Bulgaria already has representatives of anti-European parties or parties that criticize or are against the European Union, and that is VMRO. And now they have representatives in the European Parliament. I want to tell you that the deputies there are not only pro-European. It's full of people who... and that's why they are there, it makes sense. I hope anti-European parties are elected so we can hear their voice, otherwise the European Union and European officials would fall asleep. If there's no one to stand aside and criticize them, express different opinions. It’s good to have a discussion. The European Parliament is a vast field for various opinions, and if deputies are elected, and they will probably be elected from Bulgarian anti-European, let's call them parties, targeting specifically "Vazrazhdane", then we will hear their voice. And that won't be a big surprise. I'm more interested in how parties like PP, DB, GERB, GERB are clear because there's a lot of discipline from top to bottom, as in DPS, and they vote more or less on command, but I'm interested in how "We Continue the Change" will manage to build an interesting pre-election campaign to have more candidates in the European Parliament.

Host: And the question still stands: How will PP and DB appear? Together or separately. Nikola Minchev made a statement today saying "Yes" to head the Euro list of "We Continue the Change," but talks are still at an early stage on their appearance.

Maxim Behar: My forecast is that they will appear separately.
Hostess: Because of the choice of different European families from the two formations.

Maxim Behar: That's one reason. The other is that I see that in the current government, they have more and more differences. And the fact that they appeared together in two elections, today's elections and parliamentary elections, doesn't mean anything. These differences are obvious.

Host: Prof. Hristov?

Prof. Hristov: I think Nikola Minchev has a phenomenal image, which the political forces supporting him should use in the best possible way. And he has gained this image in 2022, during the changes that were taking place then, but he is a person with a phenomenally high image in asset .

Host: Thank you, gentlemen, for this analysis. We'll be expecting you again.

You can see the entire interview here.

You can watch the full interview on youtube.com.