About the political situation in Bulgaria, the upcoming run-off of the presidential elections and people's trust in institutions... Is there apathy among people and the feeling that nothing depends on the citizens… What are political dependencies, bought votes, war and Bulgaria's place in international conflicts… Here is what else actor Pavel Popandov said to Lili Marinkova in the “FACTI“ studio and the “Conversation“ show.
– Mr. Popandov, how do you feel about the fact that people did not go to vote? Do you feel anger towards the indifferent?
– I have never sympathized with the indifferent, because this is a typical Bulgarian trait. After that, a person is dissatisfied, criticizes, but he himself has not lifted a finger to try to change anything. He has not exercised, so to speak, his supreme right to vote. I have never approved of this. It even happened to me to go to vote with “I do not support anyone“, but I have gone to vote regularly.
As for what happened, there is only one explanation for me. This is the sociological forecast, which gave a big difference – 16-18%, before that and more. It largely reassured many of the voters and they said: “Well, the matter is clear“. However, it turned out that it was not so clear, because the other side was mobilizing.
Moreover, the emergence of so many enthusiasts is amazing to me. I have not seen anything like this since the first presidential elections. I don't know if you remember, Mrs. Marinkova, but back then there was a candidate who proposed dividing Bulgaria into regions, each using a different currency - dollars in Sofia, West German marks in Plovdiv, English pounds in Varna, Swiss francs in Burgas. This same candidate promised 40,000 dollars to each family.
These promises ruined everything until then, but I really can't explain on what basis these people decided that they could show up and run. Now I understand that this is about petty profit. They give 20,000 euros to each person, and how many votes does he win? All this is not even funny.
– We must tell the audience that you are from the initiative committee of Iliana Yotova. Now there is talk that the parties will approach the upcoming vote with profit and will start trading whether to support Iliana Yotova, or the other pair – Gyurov and Kandev…
– Here comes the great moment with our already hardened, corrupt electoral system. So far, there has been abstention from voting by people, especially in the districts of the MRF, who seemed to boycott the arrests of some mayors.
No, they did not abstain. They were ordered not to vote. These are people about whom I once said that it is about the novel “Dead Souls“ by Gogol. They have been turned into such.
I have played performances in Razgrad and in Kardzhali. I have spoken to ordinary people, our compatriots, workers, the most ordinary people, who say: "If you don't count the corresponding number of votes, you are finished, you will lose your job". The threat is huge, because unemployment is high, and their livelihood is elementary - reduced to tobacco or potatoes, something that does not give you a wide range of choices. In this way, these people have truly been turned into dead souls.
The bad thing is that the speculators who command them, I will mention them directly - both Dogan and Peevski, are people who over the years have proven what value they have and what place they occupy in our society. That is why these people did not dare to vote in these elections. That's what they were ordered to do.
As for the others, I have already mentioned that perhaps all the spontaneity that existed in April in supporting Radev and the newly created party he created, which led to this majority, has evaporated as a result of disappointment that occurred later.
– The problem is that we all want everything to happen immediately, quickly, in an instant...
– This cannot happen and all Bulgarians must understand very well that until the Supreme Judicial Council is changed and a decent prosecutor is elected – a prosecutor who is like Kövesi, – we cannot expect results.
I don't know if our listeners remember, but when Kövesi was proposed as European prosecutor, there was resistance even from the Romanians themselves. But she put the Prime Minister in prison. And until our judicial system changes, we cannot expect results.
The moment the police or other authorities start doing something and collect the relevant evidence, they feel relieved when they get to the relevant prosecutor, and everything is over, everything falls apart.
– Why do you think the opposition duo Gyurov – Kandev is trying to present Yotova as a person of the past, burdened by the status quo of the last ten years, while Gyurov should be presented as the choice of the young and the future? Is there some kind of generational clash here?
– No, this is not a generational clash. These are, let's call them, fables that Mirchev, Vassilev and so on spread. This is part of their agitation, because they know very well what the qualities of both of them are.
I doubt that Mirchev is at this level and can understand who is who. While Vassilev is refined, smarter and more intelligent. He knows very well what it is about.
And this young generation we are talking about were the people who came out to the demonstrations. Now politicians are sticking up for them, recognizing them, and thus creating the illusion that the younger generation has already made its choice, and the older ones, like me, are on the other side.
But this is not so. It is simply not so. If we have to call things by their real names, imagine the following situation: currently Yotova is president. As a head of state in certain situations, she must meet with people at her level and possibly continue the line that the presidency has followed.
However, let's imagine the opposite option - Gyurov is president and it happens that he cannot fulfill his duties and Kandev has to replace him. So, what will happen then?
We will repeat the incident with the deaf-mute Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, who for 15 years could not learn how to say "good morning" in English and how to say "goodbye". He walked like a deaf-mute, he paid homage, and it was a disgrace. I really felt pain that I had such a prime minister.
Kandev is the same. Not everyone can apply and have claims for this post. This is a responsible, very responsible job. This is the face of the nation and, if we find ourselves in such a situation, God forbid, it will be very bad.
– Is there some game that we will not find out about until the very end?
– Any moves are possible on the part of those who hold and control the bought vote. They could really provoke an election aimed specifically at the Gyurov & Kandev couple.
I don't know. I am far from these things and I cannot judge whether there are such people who are engaged in this trade in any case. Still, it seems to me that Demerdzhiev, who is quite familiar with this scheme and the change of regional police chiefs, will largely not allow this to happen.
Moreover, in the current situation, many of these people already feel that the ground under their feet is not stable. They understand that they need to reorient themselves. I mean both mayors and municipal employees. I think that there will be no such bought vote.
– Isn't the tendency to sycophancy vicious?
– It is vicious to sycophancy around the strong, isn't it? However, this has existed since the beginning of time, especially in local government. These things have been described by both Aleko Konstantinov and Ivan Vazov. We have many such examples.
– Was the arrest of these mayors on the eve of the first round a blunder?
– On the one hand, I would say it was a blunder, because it should have been waited. But it is not a blunder. Rumen Radev is a man who will not postpone something that really needs to be broken. He came in fact in the name of this cause – to destroy the old model, and to hold those who stole and are guilty accountable.
If we now go along the line that the moment is not convenient, this immediately means that the work is not clean. Even if it carries negatives, as many people interpret it – that it should not have been acted upon right now, but should have been waited for a week, – I believe that once the moment has come, it must be acted upon. Point on the matter.
It is more important to catch these fraudsters and actually break this model than to take into account the timing of the elections.
– As far as I understand, we are talking about the sources of financing, the entire mechanism for manipulating public procurement and the people who have become donors to Delyan Peevski.
– Exactly. And this is no secret to anyone. Everyone knows it. But the empty Bulgarian fear for the service, for bread – people tell themselves to bow down, as they say, to lower their heads.
I don't want to say it, Mrs. Marinkova, but we really are not a people. Look at what the Greeks are doing! What are these fake unions of ours? I don't remember there being any nationwide strike organized by the Confederation of Bulgarian Trade Unions or any other union.
In the early 1990s, there might have been such demonstrations when the unions were gaining strength. But now everything is calm, quiet and peaceful. What kind of unions are these? I think they sometimes take action to prevent a major protest - like releasing the valve. That's how most of their protest actions seem to me.
– Are some of the newly created parties doing something similar, blocking the real process of civic energy?
– Yes. In our country, there are as many parties as you want. There is no other country with so many parties. And notice what abbreviations they use. SWORD – and what is SWORD actually? To me, this is a small man.
I'm listening to Radostin Vassilev. You're nobody, Radostin, but nobody! He made a few mistakes through ITN, through PP-DB and through what else. He brought things from the kitchen, various recordings and so on to score points, and decided that he could now set the tone in the country and be a factor. Well, you can't be a factor.
He came out with a call for no one to vote. What was this royal behavior at the meeting with President Yotova, when she met with all the leaders of the consultations? At the very least, this speaks of poor upbringing, not to mention the simplicity.
– In this case, he is calling on people to stay home if they do not vote for Gyurov…
– Yes, and in no case to vote for Iliyana Yotova. I also listened to Kostadin Kostadinov from “Vazrazhdane“. He said that his voters would decide for themselves whether to stay home, whether not to vote, or to support Yotova, but in no case to vote for Gyurov and Kandev. I heard this on the radio in the news.
– Is this a change, since until now he was very critical of Yotova?
– Of course he was critical. He called her a secretary and so on. Now they feel that they are losing ground under their feet, and naturally they are looking for a way to position themselves in a more protected place.
– He is adding tension along the lines of Russophilia. This could turn into his plus, especially in a debate about the balance in its vision for Bulgaria…
– They worked on this wave, not only he, but also Siderov and others. They know very well that our people are indeed connected with the Slavs and with the Russians. For myself, I will say that no one can erase from my memory the fact that the Third Bulgarian Kingdom exists thanks to the Russians, Russia and Alexander II. I do not dispute, of course, the contribution of Finns, Ukrainians, Belarusians and others who participated in the War of Liberation. But this is a fact anyway and cannot be erased from the consciousness of Bulgarians. On this basis, they are trying to use these feelings. If you remember, Siderov went to Moscow to see Kobzon and took part in a concert. This is the goal – to use the sympathy and appreciation of the people to enter parliament.
– Are they looking for a niche to occupy?
– Exactly. A niche in which there are not many candidates. But they must also be very careful with regard to the European Union, because there they think they can position themselves and reap dividends.
– Was the Prime Minister's statement that a choice between peace and war was an exaggeration? Obviously, he is betting on Iliana Yotova becoming a metaphor for the peacemaking process…
– This is a metaphor, figuratively speaking. In no case should it be taken literally.
But anyway, I think I already know Rumen Radev well and I know that this man will in no case betray his people and the cause. He will defend exclusively the Bulgarian interest. The Bulgarian interest! I have said it before: I don't care whose oil it is - Russian, American or Israeli. I care about how much it costs, at what price we buy it and how much we pay for it.
If a person with dignity wins the right to have his voice heard, what could be better than that? Otherwise, we are all used to the explanation: “Well, they ordered it from above“.
– Don't you see what is happening throughout the European Union - in France, Germany, Spain and Italy?
– These are reactions of people who say: “Enough is enough! No more“. It is impossible for Zelensky's second-in-command, Ermak, to have a golden toilet, to talk about a $100 million fraud or some other huge sum, and not to go to prison, but simply to be dismissed from office.
It is no coincidence that Trump says that Zelensky comes here, asks for money, we give him billions and then leaves. These relations are quite complicated.
– They are indeed complicated, but more importantly, innocent people are dying…
– I cannot accept this in any way, no matter who these people are. Just think about what happened in a school in Gaza, when Netanyahu bombed a school. 180 children and their teachers died. One should think about this. Netanyahu does not consider himself an aggressor, but claims to be defending the interests of Israel.
– Today is an important day for Israel, because the vote is being held...
– Exactly. That's why I started talking about it.
– How will the war in Ukraine actually be resolved? Is this the main question that the media is asking the people who will become the arbiters of the Bulgarian runoff election?
– No, this is not the main issue. This is the lifeline through which they try to understand whether the person is on the right side. And when they solve this issue, everything ends. This is the whole thing.
For a long time in Bulgaria, elections have been hostages to such oppositions – communists and anti-communists, Russophiles and Atlanticists.
– Does anything else impress you? They invited NATO experts to examine the ship “Kairos“, which is stranded near Burgas. It's been about a week now, and they haven't made a statement. What does this mean?
– It was clear, wasn't it - the Russians hit it with a torpedo. Point on the matter! But it won't turn out that way if no evidence is presented, and serious evidence. The claims of Mirchev, Svirchev and the rest are no longer valid here. This evidence must be presented to the European Union, to the Americans, to the Chinese. This is a serious matter that has many dimensions.
– Do you think that there is a danger that the Bulgarian Black Sea coast will suffer – first, if the Black Sea becomes a dead zone and shipping is completely blocked, and second, if tourism suffers? Even “Eurovision“ is mentioned as a side effect…
– Of course, I think this is a real danger. Just think about it – there are mines that are placed and are moving. Many of them are no longer known where they are. A ship can move and suddenly come across a mine. It can be with tourists, with passengers, and not necessarily a commercial or military ship.
Imagine how such a mine floats up on the beach in Albena and explodes. Naturally, this will affect tourism and everything else. That is why it is very worrying that our Black Sea is becoming a zone where there are risks.
– Let's talk about the possible damage that the elections can cause in terms of domestic politics. Will the dramatic division and opposition remain, or will they be quickly forgotten?
– Everything will be forgotten very quickly. These are a few people who are inciting tension and want to bask in this fire. It will not happen. The elections will pass and Iliyana Yotova will win. I am absolutely convinced of this.
I did not know this woman well. I was at the opening of the initiative committee, and then at the closing of the campaign. She spoke for about 40-45 minutes. I listened to her and I was impressed that she spoke reasonably, calmly and with conviction. She spoke about events that are of essential importance for the development of Bulgaria – about the war in Ukraine, about the European Union, about prices.
– Everyone asks how Radev will lower prices. How can this be done in a market economy?
– How can he lower them? We do not live in a planned economy where you can go out and say: “This costs this much and that's it“.
I'll give you an example. I had to park to come to the studio. I went around, I went around, but I couldn't find a place. Finally I got to a paid parking lot, where they told me there were no spaces. I asked if it wasn't possible to free up a space if someone moved their car. They told me that they could, but the price is five euros per hour. I won't pay five euros per hour. From where to where? This is what happens in the market. We ourselves are scratching our heads. Someone sets a dizzying price and waits to become a millionaire. Well, it can't be done.
Nothing will happen to me if I don't buy peaches. This year I saw Greek peaches – they are really nice. But the price is the same as last year, only now it's in euros. I won't die if I don't buy peaches.
If we put up such resistance, the speculators will inevitably understand that this cannot continue like this, that they must be more moderate and reduce prices.
– What have we achieved with the calls for a boycott of some of the large retail chains?
– Nothing. People go back and shop again.
– The effect was zero. I thought they recognized you and made gestures towards you because they knew you from the cinema…
– Yes, but there are two sides to this. There are people who think that if you are an actor, you are full of money. There is another option - when they see what kind of car I drive, they react in a different way.
– It is a great happiness for the audience that there are your roles, and for you - that you have such a career. Maybe there is no person in contemporary Bulgarian cinema with a biography like yours?
– How could there not be? There is, of course. I will give an example right away - Rusi Chanev. We were born on the same date, but he is a year older than me. He knows more, can do more and has participated in more things.
There are such people, of course. The bad thing is that there are no such lecturers and teachers anymore. This is very bad. The other problem is that education is viewed through a bunch of pennies.
– The most significant problem is with teaching. Let's talk about the mission of the Minister of Culture and the hopes that someone will do some work that will be noticed. What do you think of Minister Miloshev?
– I personally will refrain, because Miloshev was a minister in the caretaker government, but not of culture, but of tourism.
You can't go from tourism to culture now. It's a bit like "fish farming". There was an attempt to talk about merging the two sectors, and that doesn't speak well of him.
On the other hand, when I compare him to that Nasko who took selfies, and to the next one - Mariyan Bachev, this is already a shock. A person who has been doing stupid things together with Slavi Trifonov for years can't suddenly become the minister of culture. That way everything is devalued.
– What do you think of Vasil Vassilev, who occupies the chair where Ivan Vazov used to sit at the National Theater?
– I know this person very well. He is a tyrant between the parties. What does he have to do with theater? To remove your most capable person, Alexander Morfov, to expel him - why? Because he appointed a secretary close to Peevski and Ahmed Dogan? What does she have to do with culture?
And on this basis they sit and tolerate them. The mandates of some of the leaders have already expired - for example, Sarmenov at the Satire Theater. His contract is for four or five years, but no competition is announced. I ask: why?
See more of the conversation in the VIDEO.