Bulgaria: To Clean after Borissov in Brussels Is Overwhelming Task, Will Radev Manage?

President Rumen Radev had not set foot at the  European Council since 2017and now found out that he had to watch his step in Brussels. His reflexes of  a soldier put him on the lookout because former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov had planted mines that could explode all of a sudden.

After an urgent change in agenda because of the plane diversion incident in Belarus, European leaders have returned to one of their priority themes - the Green Deal. For Bulgaria, this topic is more unpleasant than pulling out a tooth. Borissov, who has never been a favorite of the "greens", was saved from it by readily giving consent to any proposal, but with a second thought - he never planned to deliver on his promises. "There is no government greener than ours," he assured his European partners. At the same time, he was turning a blind eye on how the last beaches in Bulgaria are buried under concrete, how greedy businessmen cut down forests clearing plots for new ski slopes and lifts, how  his cronies import European garbage...

Complaints in Brussels from Bulgarian environmentalists raised suspicions about his sincerity, but he dispelled them in one stroke on December 11, 2020.During his last in-person appearance at the European Council (after that all sessions were held remotely because of Covid) he made his boldest promise: by 2030 Bulgaria would cut its carbon dioxide emissions by 55% compared to the level in 1990.Which meant the country would give up more than half its energy and production capacities emitting greenhouse gas. It was never clear what the country would replace them with, but Borissov emphasized renovation as a method of saving energy, which means his own savings kept in the drawer.

Borissov's intimate thoughts did not mean anything to...