New press office director

· TANIA Geneva was appointed as the new press office director of the Cabinet on August 17.
Geneva, 39, was the press secretary of the leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), Sergei Stanishev, prior to his election as Prime Minister.
Geneva graduated in art history from Warsaw University, Poland in 1988. From 1989 to 1991, she was a reporter for Bulgarian National Radio.
After that she worked for the BSP-aligned Duma newspaper, and for Monitor newspaper from 1993 to 1999. In the 1997 parliamentary elections, Geneva worked for the BSP campaign. 
In July 1999 she joined Darik Radio, until 2002 when Stanishev appointed her as his press secretary.

Price of an insult

· A 20-year-old man has been fined 150 leva for shouting insults at President Georgi Purvanov during a celebration of the 102nd anniversary of the Ilinden uprising against the Ottoman Empire.
Hristo Doichev admitted to shouting insults, saying that he had been drunk during the incident. He was one of three men arrested by police for indecent behaviour and insulting the head of state during the celebrations. Of the other two arrested, one allegedly had been hitting people with the flag he was carrying, while the other had tried to drown out Purvanov's speech by blowing a whistle.
Purvanov said that the event was held to honour "our patriotic ancestors, who sacrificed their lives for the fatherland...I appeal to everybody here not to blaspheme this sacred place with political quarrels".
Others who shouted insults at Purvanov included Volen Siderov, leader of the ultra-nationalist political party Ataka, and a group of his supporters. In response, Purvanov quoted Bulgarian liberation hero Vassil Levski, who wrote that all ethnic groups in Bulgaria, including Turks, Armenians and Jews, should have equal rights.
On August 16, proceedings in Parliament were disrupted after Siderov was ruled out of order for using vulgar and slanderous terms against Purvanov.

Libya update

· THE chairperson of the United States senate committee on foreign affairs, Richard Lugar, held talks in Tripoli last week with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddaffi, and raised the issue of the Bulgarian medics sentenced to death for allegedly deliberately infecting hundreds of Libyan children with HIV.
In the past week, a representative of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Tony Lloyd, had talks with the nurses' lawyer. Lloyd is to present a report concerning the trial to PACE in October.
In other developments, the new Bulgarian Government has rejected renewed calls by Libya to pay blood money in return for the nurses being released.

TV channel faces `hate speech' probe

· THE Council for Electronic Media (CEM) is to investigate three of the programmes broadcast on the Skat cable television channel between July 1 and August 20.
The CEM received complaints from the Evroroma movement and the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee that various Skat shows promoted racial intolerance and racism. Among the programmes to be investigated is Volen Siderov's Ataka. Siderov is the leader of the ultra-nationalist movement Ataka. Several former Ataka MPs have also approached the CEM, alleging that Skat broadcast video clips in which they were presented as traitors. The clips provoked hatred, the MPs said. As a final measure, Skat television could be closed down, said CEM member Toma Ivanov. This measure, however, is unlikely. The Den cable television channel was shut down after facing similar charges. The host of a controversial Den show, Nick Stein, moved to Skat television after Den was closed, without changing the content of his show. Ivanov said that closing down Skat would not be an effective measure. The CEM cannot stop specific shows, as this is considered censorship. If violation of the law is proven, the fine varies between 2 000 and 15 000 leva.

Greek support

· GREECE'S parliament is expected to ratify Bulgaria's European Union accession treaty at the end of September if Bulgaria honours its commitments and passes the requisite legislation by then, European Integration Minister Meglena Kouneva told Bulgarian news agency BTA.
Speaking on her return from a working meeting with Greek deputy foreign minister Yannis Valinakis in Thessaloniki on August 22, she said that she had been assured that if Bulgaria pressed ahead with reforms, it would have support from the Greek government and parliament.
"Our Greek partners intended to ratify Bulgaria's EU accession treaty back in June, but because of the requirements to the Greek translation of the text, the deadline was extended until the new parliamentary session which is opening in September," Kouneva said.

Avian flu all-clear

· AVIAN flu has not been diagnosed in birds in Bulgaria, the National Veterinary Medical Service (NVMS) said on August 22.
Between 4500 and 5500 samples from birds are tested annually in the country. On August 12, the Bulgarian Agriculture Minister banned the import and transit of live birds from Russia and Kazakhstan to prevent the possible spread of avian flu in the country. An earlier order bans the import of live birds, eggs and thermally unprocessed bird products from 17 countries and regions in East and South Asia. Under a national programme for bird flu control, the NVMS monitors the health status of domesticated and wild birds, including migratory ones.

Booming Varna

· MORE than three million overnights were logged in the Varna Region last year, of which 85 per cent were by foreigners, Varna Regional Governor Peter Kandilarov told reporters on August 22.

Mountain cleaning

· MOUNTAINEERS from France, the Netherlands and Germany and Bulgarian ecologists are taking part in the cleaning of the Rila National Park as of August 22. The campaign has been organised by the For The Earth ecological organisation and Ecobulpack, an organisation for recycling package waste. The campaign is entitled "Garbage in the Rucksack".
The For The Earth organisation has been initiating cleaning of natural parks since 1999. Last year the target of its campaign was the Rila Monastery, the Central Rila Reserve and the southeastern section of the Rila National Park. A total of 7.5 tons of refuse was gathered last year.

Hospital audit

· HEALTH Minister Radoslav Gaidarski has ordered a financial audit of the 10 hospitals in Bulgaria that have the largest debts.
The audits are expected to be completed by September 2. According to Health Ministry officials, hospitals had a total of 100 million leva in debts by August 30.

Anti-Gay

· MUNICIPAL officials in Varna banned a gay parade scheduled for August 24 at the nearby Saint Helena and Constantine resort.
In a statement, the municipality cited "technical reasons" but the move followed strenuous objections by a Bulgarian Orthodox Church group in the city. The group had threatened an "anti-gay" march.
"The identity of the petitioner (to hold the parade) was not clear ... and the nature of brochures and other material that were to be handed out was also not indicated precisely," the municipality said.
"The inaugural event of the homosexual and transvestite days for which guests from Greece, Italy, Spain and Switzerland had been invited has been banned," Gemini spokeswoman Dessislava Petrova said on national television.
A church official, Father Ivan of Varna, said on television that the gay parade would have "encouraged youths to reject moral norms."

Left leader

· MIHAIL Mikov was elected as the new head of the parliamentary group of the Coalition for Bulgaria (CfB) on August 18, succeeding Sergei Stanishev.
Mikov was born in 1960. He graduated in law from the Sofia St Kliment Ohridski University, and is a specialist in penalty law. He has been a Bulgarian Socialist Party MP in the three most recent national assemblies, from 1997 to date.