We know each other from 1986, when I was a member of the Bulgarian delegation to the CSCE conference on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures and Disarmament in Stockholm. (CSCE was the predecessor of OSCE). This was a very important forum, as it took place after the downing of Korean airliner KAL 007 while the USSR… » read more

Posted by Georgi Gotev

Yesterday a Ukrainian television asked me who leaked the Luxleaks. Not that they thought I knew. Their basic question was “Quid prodest”, who benefits from Luxleaks? They had in mind their country, which badly needs a strong Europe, rather than a weak one. The assumption is that by weakening Juncker, Europe is weakened. So who… » read more

Posted by Georgi Gotev

I don’t know how to say it in English, but a French-speaking friend of mine calls it L’Europe germano-allemande. For several decades we were used to the French-German tandem, but now we have Germany all over the place. The real leaders of the two big political families are Germans – Angela Merkel and Martin Schulz.… » read more

Posted by Georgi Gotev

Basically extreme-left and extreme-right MEPs voted against the ratification of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, according to the monitoring by Vote Watch Europe. The European Parliament in Strasbourg and the Ukrainian Parliament in Kyiv simultaneously ratified yesterday (16 September) the landmark EU-Ukraine Association Agreement (AA). MEPs backed the agreement with 535 votes in favour, 127 against… » read more

Posted by Georgi Gotev

“On the occasion of the 1150th anniversary of the mission of Saints Cyril and Methodius to Great Moravia, the Czech Television and Barrandov Studios Prague, along with co-producers from Slovakia and Slovenia, have shot a film entitled “Cyril and Methodius – The Apostles of the Slavs“. This historical saga, under the directorship of Petr Nikolaev,… » read more

Posted by Georgi Gotev

I was leaked by a strange individual the draft organigram as of yesterday (2 September) of the Juncker Commission. I take it as a compliment for the strong coverage by EurActiv. See it yourself, and read EurActiv with details tomorrow. The organigram was leaked by apparently someone external to Juncker’s services, as the person couldn’t… » read more

Posted by Georgi Gotev

Published at 20.45hrs Brussels time. Diplomatic sources just told me that the services of Council President Herman Van Rompuy just invited by email EU heads of state and government to the EU summit starting at 17.00hrs tomorrow (not 16.00 as previously announced), at which Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko “will make a communication”. Obviously, Ukraine has… » read more

Posted by Georgi Gotev

EU leaders are meeting tomorrow to elect successors to Council President Herman Van Rompuy and EU foreign Affairs chief Catherine Ashton. They are also expected to discuss the situation in Ukraine, where reportedly the Russian army has openly invaded, and decide further sanctions. The Ukraine situation has strongly boosted the chances of Polish Prime Minister… » read more

Posted by Georgi Gotev

Every little act is a symbol that you care. I fail to understand why the EU didn’t put its flags at half- mast following the downing of MH17. Friends from France, Spain, Bulgaria called me and asked: did the Commission put down its flags? It didn’t. The Malaysian airplane carrying 298 people of which 222… » read more

Posted by Georgi Gotev

Credit dossiers for a total of 3.5 billion leva (1.78 billion euro) of Bulgaria’s Corporate Commercial Bank (CCB) have disappeared and a sum equivalent to 206 million leva (105 million euro) has been withdrawn in cash upon order by its president of the supervisory board and the majority shareholder Tzvetan Vassilev, the Bulgarian National Bank… » read more

Posted by Georgi Gotev