Authors: Mila Simonova (UAE, Dubai), P. Stamatov (USA, Chicago)

The Bulgarian media portal www.Eurochicago.com turned to the leaders of the most influential parties in Bulgaria, and asked several identical principle questions relating to elections, electronic voting and the adequacy of state policy towards Bulgarians abroad. The aim of this survey was to clarify the policy positions before the importation of the text of the new electoral law to parliament for consideration:

Questions of the survey summarized in one sentence:

1) Do you support the registration of electoral lists and independent candidates in a separate 32nd electoral district „abroad“ – like the examples of areas in the country?

2) Do you support the introduction of Internet voting in the country and abroad?

3) Do you support the opening of polling stations outside the diplomatic representations?

Fourth question can be divided into 2 parts:

4a) Do you support a late creation of a National Council for Bulgarians abroad, as directed by the law, adopted in 2000, but that has not been observed to date?

4b) What’s your opinion for today’s country policy towards the Bulgarian diaspora

Replies questions 1 through 4a are summarized in the following table in which scores from +2 to -2 can be explained as follows:
+2 = Strongly support
1 = agree to some extent
0 = neutral
-1 = Disagree somewhat (or, disagree to some extent)
-2 = Strongly disagree
? – Unspecified response

The scores of the responses in the table clearly indicate that parties generally express their positive and almost unanimous desire towards a favorable solution to the problems, asked about in the 4 part questionnaire. From the 46 responses received, you will find only three negative values, which is less than 7%.
Exceptions to the general rule exist, but they are only on the third question concerning the opening of polling stations outside the diplomatic representations. The argument against their opening is the possible falsification of votes abroad, mentioning specifically the vote in Turkey.

State policy towards the Bulgarian diaspora was included in the second part of the fourth question – 4b. There is an absolute consensus that the policy of the Bulgarian state to its citizens living abroad needs significant changes.

Questions instead of conclusions

Are the stated positions of the leaders of the parties form the new electoral law? We will know very soon (September 11) when the most important political bill will be submitted to the Bulgarian Parliament.
On that date, we will find out how truthful the legislators in parliament are, and whether they protect our interests and how well their words will be backed up by their actions?
Full version of this material (in Bulgarian), and the parties’ answers can be found by clicking the following link.

The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences wants to close the Institute for Thracian Studies.

Please do not permit this criminal act to happen.

The Institute for Thracian Studies is a multi-disciplinary scientific think-tank, with research and publication across several countries and is supported by the scientific community worldwide. Its research encompasses all the aspects of ancient Thracian history, cultural anthropology and linguistics, spreading on 5 millennia of European history.

Background

1. In a closed doors meeting in the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS) some of the BAS managers proposed to demolish the institute for Thracian Studies and/or merge it with the History Institute.
2. That is not only for financial reasons (funding, which is very scarce for humanities sciences in Bulgaria) but because of internal policies issues – try to manage less institutes.
3. The building of the Institute is AAA super expensive real estate piece, bequested to the BAS in the early 20th century. Many big developers have their eyes on it, and closing the Institute to sell the building to the highest bidder is not out of question.
4. Other institute, the National Institute for Archaeology with a museum (NAIM) displays many precious (Thracian) artifacts, but they don’t have an analytical/cultural theory/history department to deal with the Thracian heritage. These functions are performed now by the Institute of Thracian Studies.
5. The entire re-structuring was, at least officially, triggered by the European Commission Report on the BAS performance. The report didn’t correctly asses the Institute. It was completely biased, many of the international activities and publications were not registered, many of the activities of the Institute to popularize the Thracian Civilization were totally neglected. That is partially due to internal European intrigues – the Thracian culture was, is and will always neglected because of the super-powerful Greek lobby (European Commissioner for Culture is from Greece), trying to present the Thracian culture and civilization as part of Magna Graecia. If the opinion of the EC, which BAS is not taking into account, the Institute should be merged with the NAIM. This proposition was never made. Besides, this is a very well calculated move: eliminating the interpretative part of the archaeology of the Thracian artifacts and monuments, all archaeological finds from the Thracian civilization, will be labeled as „Greek“, as it is now in all US museums.
6. The management of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences is mostly composed by people with old-fashion understanding of market economy. They still live in the communist times, when they received their academic accolades. They don’t understand the need for small, mobile and multidisciplinary research think tanks, but still dream for the mega state-funded institutes, as in the past.
7. When combining several institutes into one, the European funding is in jeopardy for the Thracian Studies – there will be always other, more ‘urgent“ priority and the corresponding politics involved, if the Institute is merged with the one of History.
8. The way that management decisions are taken in the institute, require at least one representative of each department to be present. How scientists with modern history profile will be able to take decision on important matters in Thracian Studies and vice versa, is not calculated in these merger plans.
9. The reasons behind all this are very complex and difficult to explain and prove. On January 25, 2010, the BAS will take a decision on re-structuring all institutes, centers etc. The BAS is independent even from the Bulgarian Government. The Minister of Education can only recommend actions, but not rule over it. Not even the Prime Minister can influence their decisions.That is why I believe that urgent action with the support of all academic, research community and the general public should be taken.

All of us, who value science and our common past as Europeans should unite and sign the petition to the Bulgarian Government to preserve the Institute, so it can continue to publish worldwide information, books and scientific articles about the Thracian Civilization. You also can take other action – write to the PR office of BAS, call them etc. Below are all necessary links.

Thank you.
Rossitza Ohridska-Olson
Petition URL: http://www.petitiononline.com/thracian/petition.html
Facebook group URL: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=283236241162&ref=ts
URL of the Institute (English): http://www.thracologia.org/indexe.html

PR Office of BASURL: http://www.bas.bg

Dr. Antoaneta Hristova
02/987 46 53; 0887 123 999
a_hristova@cu.bas.bg

Stoyan Velev
02/987 46 53; Mobile 0885 562 680
s_velev@cu.bas.bg

Eva Tzvetkova
02/987 46 53; 0893 47 17 48
e_tsvetkova@cu.bas.bg

P.S. For the moment, the PR (Dr. Hristova) doesn’t want to release any info about the restructuring project, since this will trigger actions like this in defense of the Institute of Thracian Studies. Similar petitions and discontentments are voiced about the merger between the Institute of Ethnography and Museum with the Institute of Folklore, etc.

Atlas Shrugged has been around for more than fifty years in the English speaking world, but it still finds new reader and is regularly reprinted and sold successfully in all major bookstores. The book’s theme, an anti-utopian warning of a government takeover of the United States free market economy, may have precipitated a renewed interest toward the works of Ayn Rand, due to the intricacies of the current economic policies of the American government. There is no doubt the Atlas Shrugged belongs to the literary history, and that Rand’s concept of free-wheeling capitalism have left its mark on the political discourse during the Cold War.

Although the central topic of the book and the writer’s own philosophical views are pretty much a moot point in the Western world where no one seriously fear a communist dictatorship anymore, even with the looming global economic crisis, they may find resonance with the readers in Bulgaria which has had only a short and uncertain experience with capitalism and democracy.

At the opening was also the founding of the Ayn Rand society in Bulgaria, which will strive to explain and promote the writer’s works and ideas.

Emil Lazarov

This has been announced Sunday (2009-08-16) by the archeologist Diana Dimitrova, who was wife of the late great Bulgarian archeologist, Georgi Kitov.

Until that moment, numerous objects have been found in the mound – a bronze candlestick, a glass rhyton, a huge bronze amphora, a golden bracelet, other golden objects, and glass vessels with some kind of liquid in them.

The excavations continue and more find are expected to come up.

Dimitrova’s team is taking part in the excavations Archeology Summer „Sliven 2009″, which began on June 9.

In the initial plans of the team, there were 3-4 mounds marked. In is the third year in a row that the Sliven Municipality financially supports the „TEMP“ expedition. This was Georgi Kitov’s expedition.

His goal was to prove that the Valley of the Thracian Kings lies to the big branch of the Tundzha river next to the city of Sliven.

www.novinite.com

Besides the fresco fragments, archeologists had also discovered parts of cloths said to have belonged to saints, as well as letters and a bronze cross that had been used a pendant, BalkanTravellers quoted local media as saying.

The monastery in the Karaach Tepe area was first discovered at the beginning of the twentieth century by Czech-Bulgarian archaeologist Karel Škorpil and is among the Balkans’ largest monastery complexes.

The site has seen archaeological excavations for the past 14 years.

www.sofiaecho.com