Wednesday, May 26, 2021

Blackmail, racketeering, oligarchs and violence in Bulgaria. Discussing Borissov’s legacy w/ Georgi Hristov

On the Barricades podcast, 16 May 2021

A heinous scandal is brewing in Bulgaria, with wealthy businessman and landowner Svetoslav Ilchovski at the center, who recently testified before a parliamentary commission about the Bulgarian PM’s gangsterism. “The Barricade” has published a lengthy article on Ilchovski-gate, which can be found here.

Boyan Stanislavski and Maria Cernat, hosts of “On the barricades” discussed this issue with Bulgarian leftist journalist and activist Georgi Hristov on Sunday, May 16th.

Before their review of Svetoslav Ilchovski’s stunning testimony and the origins of the peculiar model of “parliamentary democracy” that was established in Bulgaria after 1989, they discussed the prospects open to the provisional government appointed by President of the Republic Roumen Radev following the subsequent failures of the three largest parliamentary parties.

Is there anything this government can accomplish in the three months before the announced early elections on July 11? Many non-political experts were appointed, which appears to be a logical and rational decision given the nature of this administration. One thing is certain: whatever this government does, it will have to contend with Borissov’s machinery, which allows him to control the entire institutional and economic infrastructure of the state and then use it to his (and his oligarchic friends’) benefit. The mechanism is straightforward: nepotism and corruption. The boss, Boyko Borissov, makes all appointments in all existing public institutions. For nearly 15 years, the cadreship of the entire state apparatus has been cultivated to serve him and his gang, and it has been ensured that everyone is completely obedient. Can a massive cleansing take place in a matter of months? Can the provisional government accomplish anything else?

 About

The Barricade is a new outlet set up by a group of left oriented activists from around Eastern Europe – Bulgaria, Poland, Slovakia and Serbia. The main goal of this platform is to provide competent analysis and comments on the situation in the former Eastern Bloc as well as to offer interesting, non-standard views regarding the most important global processes and events.

This website is not a mouthpiece of any party or other political organization and the views presented here range from social-democratic to Marxist or anarchist. The official publisher of The Barricade is the Sofia-based Publishing House BARICADA, which has successfully launched and developed two similar projects in Bulgarian and Romanian. A website in English is a continuation of the efforts to present leftist viewpoints as well as to familiarize the international community with real descriptions and careful, hype-free analysis of the difficult circumstances in the region of Eastern Europe.

Most leftist platforms operate with very limited budgets and ours is no exception to this rule. Therefore most of the articles you will find here are translations. If you would like to help out with translating or if you have any suggestions, do not hesitate to contact us.

Also, we do hope that in the near future The Barricade will become a focal point for the most serious groups, parties and individuals on the European left and will be able to not only offer material to read but also organize discussions and other events across the continent.


Comradely,

The editorial board


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