EP 2014 elections in Bulgaria: A hint at normality?

Bulgaria’s Central Election Commission is yet to announce the official final results of the European Parliament (EP) election held on 25 May, 2014, but it has processed all protocols from the precincts with counted 100% of the ballots. This was the third EP campaign in Bulgaria after the one following EU entry in 2007 and then the regular one in 2009. Turnout was traditionally low (some 35%) and somewhere on the average in Europe.

"The Frenzy"

A great take on EU migration and the Bulgaria/Romania worker invasion scare by Foreign Policy's Harriet Salem, with me quoted, too. Read it here.

Christmas line-up: check!

From left to right: 2012 Minkov Brothers Le Photographe Syrah (Gold Medal winner in blind tasting at Alliances du Monde 2013), Thracian Valley, Bulgaria; 2009 Chateau Ste Michelle Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley, Washington State, U.S.; 2007 Domaine Duclaux, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Southern Rhone, France; 2007 Ruschi Noceti La Costa Rosso, Tuscany, Italy; 2008 Stellenzicht Golden Triangle Pinotage, Stellenbosch, South Africa. Yum yum!

Reflections on Ukraine

I attended on Thursday a public discussion in Sofia entitled, “Ukraine's Struggle for Europe: Mapping Ukraine’s Choices before the Protests and after Vilnius.” It was held at the European Commission Representation in Bulgaria and organised by the Centre for Liberal Strategies (CLS). The key speaker was Mr Valentyn Gladkykh, a young political scientist who is currently Chief Adviser of Verkhovna Rada's Secretariat; the other two panellists were Ognyan Minchev of IRIS, the policy institute I work at, and Lithuania’s Ambassador to Bulgaria, H.E. Darius Gaidys, representing the EU Presidency. Moderation was provided by CLS’s Antoinette Primatarova.

                 Photo by Nessa Gnatoush, Wikimedia Commons / Flickr (bit.ly/18Gm4lx)

This was a very useful event which got its due attention, judging by the people present, but it also helped some ideas I had about Ukraine, the EU, Russia, and the Euromaidan protests crystallise. Here are some thoughts: