About: Bulgarie
Unesco chief: Education quality should feature highly in next MDGs
The post-2015 Millennium Development Goals need to emphasise the quality of education in order to sow tolerance and respect for human rights, and better prepare citizens for global challenges such as climate change, Unesco Director General Irina Bokova told EURACTIV in an exclusive interview.
NIS CEO: Gazprom is our main shareholder, but we support Serbia’s EU bid
Gazprom Neft holds a 56% stake in NIS, the largest energy company in Serbia, but the company vows to do business “outside politics” and support the country’s EU integration, Kirill Kravchenko, CEO of NIS, told EURACTIV in an exclusive interview.
DEPA CEO: Greece-Bulgaria gas connector ‘ready in 2013’
ITGI, the Turkey-Greece-Italy Interconnector, offers the quickest way to open up the Southern Gas corridor, and could pump Azeri gas into Bulgaria as soon as from 2013, Harry Sachinis, Chairman & CEO Public Gas Corporation of Greece (DEPA), told EURACTIV in an exclusive interview.
MEP: Anti-corruption board needed for Greece, Bulgaria, Romania
The leaders of Greece, Bulgaria and Romania, should swallow their pride and allow external experts to administer EU funding in their countries, Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, a German liberal MEP of Greek descent, told EURACTIV in an exclusive interview.
Georgieva: Situation in Haiti ‘still very difficult’
Bulgarian national Kristalina Georgieva, the EU's commissioner for humanitarian aid and crisis response, remembers the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 very well: it taught her that transforming a country takes time, she told EURACTIV in an exclusive interview.
MEP: Serbs think they’re top dogs in Balkans
Many Serbs feel they are superior in South Eastern Europe and feel offended that Bulgaria and Romania joined the European Union first, Hungarian centre-right MEP György Schöpflin (European People's Party), shadow rapporteur on Serbia, told EURACTIV in an exclusive interview.
Turkish business leader: Cyprus should be one business community
Turkey would like to do business with the southern part of Cyprus - EU member the Republic of Cyprus - and both sides of the divided island should take steps towards the other, Rifat Hisarc?kl?o?lu, president of the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges, told EURACTIV in an exclusive interview.
Opinion-maker: EU should adopt position on Roma controversy
The European Commission has been remarkably silent over the treatment of Roma by France and Italy, Dominique Moïsi, founder and senior advisor at Ifri (the French Institute for International Relations), told EURACTIV in an exclusive interview.
Best-selling author: Cultural closeness is key to enlargement
In some ways Turkey is completely European, indeed more European than some Balkan countries, but in other ways it is not at all, best-selling Bulgarian writer Alek Popov told EURACTIV after a year-long exchange with cultural actors in the region. But he said the same phenomenon was true for the Balkans in general.
Former Bulgarian President: Turkey should join EU
Turkey should join the European Union and this would bring more benefit to the EU than to Turkey itself, Zhelyu Zhelev, a former president of Bulgaria (1990-1996), told EURACTIV in an exclusive interview. He also criticised Greece for vetoing the start of Macedonia's EU accession talks over the 'name dispute'.Consultant: Bulgarian government’s green strategy is ‘hollow’
Despite professing environmental intentions, the Bulgarian government's green strategy has so far been ''completely hollow'' and companies are better adapting to EU environmental laws than the authorities, Boyan Rashev, managing partner at the Bulgarian office of sustainable development consultancy 'denkstatt', told Dnevnik – EURACTIV's partner in Bulgaria – in an interview.Füle: ‘I’m enjoying every minute of my work as commissioner’
By the end of his term in 2014, Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy Commissioner Štefan Füle hopes to have achieved enough to end talk of "enlargement fatigue" and help EU citizens to see more clearly the benefits of an enlarged Europe.Opposition leader: Bulgaria heading towards a ‘Polizeistaat’
New Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov is instilling an atmosphere of fear among society in governing the country that is reminiscent of Stalinism, his Socialist predecessor, Sergey Stanishev, told EURACTIV in an exclusive interview.
UNESCO director-general: I’ll push for linguistic balance
The newly-elected director-general of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, presented to EURACTIV in an interview her ambitious plans for the organisation, responsible for promoting education, science and culture throughout the world. She attached special importance to francophony.
PM Borissov: Bulgaria ‘cuts through living flesh’ to balance budget
Despite having made deep and painful cuts to its administration to avoid IMF assistance as it strives to join the euro zone, Bulgaria's new government enjoys wide popular support, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov told EURACTIV in an interview.
Pirinski: The European left needs a more powerful message
The parties of the European left have not yet been able to rise to the challenge of the world economic crisis, Georgi Pirinski, chairman of the National Assembly of Bulgaria, told EURACTIV in an interview.
Hristov: ‘I’ve never had contact with Libertas’
Mincho Hristov, a Bulgarian MP who was listed as a member of the Libertas anti-Lisbon campaign group in an application to win pan-European party status, denied the affiliation in an interview with EURACTIV yesterday (4 February).
Ambassador: Swiss headed for ‘risky’ EU poll
Switzerland will vote on Sunday (8 February) to decide whether to allow Bulgarian and Romanian citizens to work freely in the country. However, the Alpine state risks putting itself in a "difficult" situation vis-à-vis the EU in the event of a negative outcome, the country's ambassador to the EU, Jacques de Watteville, told EURACTIV in an interview.
Commissioner Kuneva: ‘My weapon is communication’
Communication is key if consumers are to become well-informed experts and use their power to make business behave, Consumer Affairs Commissioner Meglena Kuneva told EURACTIV in an exclusive interview.
MEP: Gas conflict ‘highlights importance of Nabucco’
The current gas crisis could provide the momentum to develop a consistent EU energy policy, while the European Commission should take the lead in implementing the Nabucco pipeline project, Bulgarian Socialist MEP Evgeni Kirilov told EURACTIV in an interview.
Lawyer: Bulgaria wrongly portrayed as EU’s bogeyman
Bulgaria is doing at least as well as Romania in the field of justice and home affairs, but is portrayed in a negative light to discourage further EU enlargement, Andreas Geiger, a partner in Brussels law firm Alber & Geiger, told EURACTIV in an interview.
MEP: Bulgaria-Romania ties blossom after EU accession
Relations between Bulgaria and Romania have flourished since they joined the Union in January 2007, Romanian Socialist MEP Victor Bostinaru told EURACTIV in an interview, calling for regional cooperation to be extended to the whole Black Sea area.
Kalfin: Bulgaria ‘will deliver’ on fighting crime
Bulgaria is trying to overcome a communication problem with the Commission while struggling hard to deliver on commitments to fight corruption and organised crime, the Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivaylo Kalfin says in an interview with EURACTIV.