Ta nea toy BTA 01-Mar-95 Ta nea apo thn Presbeia ths Boylgarias sthn Washington, D.C. . H kybernhsh epiuymei thn anasygkrothsh twn agrotikwn ektasewn. Antidrash apo thn antipoliteysh. . Eortasmos gia thn 125 epeteio apo thn idrysh ths Oruodojhs ekklhsias ths Boylgarias. . Synanthsh toy Antiproedroy ths kybernhshs me ton Presbh ths Danias. . O Genikos eisaggeleas ua zhthsei thn akyrwsh ths ekloghs toy hgeth kommatos logw ths Amerikanikhs yphkoothtas toy. ** O Proedros ths Boylhs eixe synanthsh me toys Projenoys ths Kyproy kai ths Italias. . Hmerhsies efhmerides anaferoyn to kostos ths prospaueias na swuoyn dyo trapezes apo ptwxeysh. Giwrgos Kapodistrias ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: bulgaria@access.digex.net (Embassy of Bulgaria) Subject: BTA inf/ Mar 1, 95 Date: 1 Mar 1995 10:56:01 -0500 EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA - WASHINGTON D.C. BTA - BULGARIAN TELEGRAPH AGENCY BULLETIN OF NEWS FROM BULGARIA (issued daily by 11 p.m.) MARCH 1, 1995 SOCIALISTS, OPPOSITION ON LAND ACT The ruling Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and its coalition partners - Agrarians and Environmentalists - this week will second amendments to the law on land in a bid to speed up the land reform. This emerged in a statement BSP floor leader Krasimir Premyanov made before journalists here today. In an address to the nation later today, the major opposition force, the Union of Democratic Forces (SDS) said they will use all legal means to prevent the passage of the amendments. The SDS warned that the amendments curtail farmers' property rights and introduce forcible means to make them use their land. The bill of amendments impede free sale of land and stand in the way of the formation of a land market in this country, said the address. The SDS further described the amendments as an attempt at recommunization. The BSP-led parliamentary group of the Democratic Left demands speedy amendments to the Agricultural Land Tenure Act. The Act was passed in 1991 to be amended an year later by a SDS-dominated parliament. The head of the parliamentary committee on agriculture and forestry, Todor Todorov, said the amendments seek to simplify the process of land restitution on the basis of land division plans. The land was nationalized during the communist regime in a process that lasted from the late 1940s to the early 1950s. After the communist rulers in this country were toppled, all political forces declared themselves in favor of returning the land to its lawful owners. The process, however, is sluggish. The number of complaints on land division plans now total 130,00 and is expected to soar to 250,000 - 300,000, Todorov told journalists today. He said the effective procedure for reviewing complaints might take up to 10 - 15 years and the proposed amendments to the law seek to simplify it. The head of the parliamentary committee on agriculture and forestry also said the amendments would introduce a schedule for and specify the work of the liquidation councils, set up to wind up the Soviet-style cooperative farms. On a number of occasions, the Socialists openly criticized the liquidation councils' performance. The BSP floor leader today stressed that winding up these council does not discharge them of responsibility. The amendments to the Land Act will also regulate the formation of cooperatives, said Todorov. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ BULGARIAN EXARCHATE TURNS 125 The 125th anniversary of the foundation of the Bulgarian Exarchate in Constantinople by firman of Sultan Abdul Azis was marked in Parliament today. The celebration was organized by Deputy National Assembly Chairman Kristiyan Krustev and Vassil Mihailov MP of the Union of Democratic Forces and was attended by National Assembly Chairman Blagovest Sendov, MPs, historians and cultural and public figures. On February 28, 1870 the Grand Vizir of the Turkish Empire Ali Pasha presented a Bulgarian delegation with a firman (royal decree) of the Sultan, recognizing the right of the Bulgarians to have their own church, independent from the Greek Patriarchate under the name of Bulgarian Exarchate. The firman was the first official recognition of the existence of a Bulgarian ethos in the Turkish empire. Until then the Bulgarians had no institutions, historian Andrei Pantev said today, dwelling on the historical implications of this act. This act internationalized and put the Bulgarian problem on the international diplomatic agenda and outlined the borders of the Bulgarian ethos. The almost half a century struggle for church independence was an important part of the Bulgarian national movement of the 19th century for liberating the Bulgarian lands from Turkish domination. The issuing of this firman was one of the great victories of the Bulgarian National Revival and of the Bulgarian liberation movement, said Toncho Zhechev, a Bulgarian National Revival historian and specialist in folk psychology. This was the only struggle of the Bulgarian people not supported by a single Great Power, a struggle opposed by the Catholic and Protestant West, the Orthodox East and the Supreme Porte, Toncho Zhechev said. Zhechev recalled that also on February 28 but 1,125 years ago, the Eighth Oecumenical Convention in Constantinople, attended by representatives of all Christian centers of that time proclaimed the accession of the Bulgarian Church to the Eastern Orthodox religion on an autocephalous principle. The 125th anniversary of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church was marked this weekend in Istanbul by a liturgy at the chapel of the building of the Exarchate and at the Bulgaria St. Stephen Church. Historians, theologians and the Ioan Koukouzel Chamber Ensemble attended the celebrations organized by the newly established Bulgarian Exarchate Foundation. The celebrations were attended only by some 20 representatives of the Bulgarian community in Istanbul, the press stressed in its coverage of the event. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ TUESDAY NEWS BRIEFS Deputy Prime Minister Roumen Gechev today met Danish Ambassador to Bulgaria Preben Seiersen, said the cabinet's press office. The two discussed Gechev's upcoming participation in the world meeting on social development in Copenhagen, where he will represent the Bulgarian cabinet. On behalf of his country's government, the Danish Ambassador handed the Deputy Prime Minister a Memorandum on cooperation with Bulgaria to serve as a basis for negotiations on joint activity in the sphere of trade and economy. The talks reportedly identified possibilities for cooperation in a number of spheres, as the Danish side voiced a readiness to help Bulgaria in its integration into the European Union. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Prosecutor General Ivan Tatarchev by the end of this week would demand that the Constitutional Court nullify the election of the leader of the Bulgarian Business Bloc (BBB), George Ganchev, as MP, said the National Radio. Tatarchev said Ganchev had US citizenship after the beginning of the election campaign in December 1994. The Bulgarian Constitution bars from running in elections people holding citizenship other than Bulgarian. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ National Assembly Chairman Blagovest Sendov today received Ambassador of Cyprus here Charalambos Christoforou, the parliamentary press office said. The two exchanged views on the development of parliamentary contacts between the two countries and on the situation in the Balkans. The National Assembly Chairman also met Italian Ambassador here Stefano Rastrelli. The talks stressed the friendly ties between the two countries and considered ways for further promotion of the bilateral parliamentary contacts. The two also discussed Bulgaria's integration into the EU and the changes in the definition of European and world security. The sides were unanimous on the need to avoid regional conflicts. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ BUSINESS PRESS The operation aimed to save the Economic Bank and Mineralbank from ruin will cost up to 12,000 million leva, most papers write today. "Standart News" says that the Government is reluctant to grant money for saving the two banks. According to the same paper, the Finance Minister is slow in making the decision but it should be adopted by mid- March when the national budget projections are expected to be ready. "24 Chassa" reports that at yesterday's meeting the central bank's management and cabinet ministers discussed four variants for the rehabilitation of the two problematic banks. The closure of both the banks is said to be one of the variants; another envisages the closure of only one bank. The losses of the Economic Bank and Mineralbank are incurred as a result of the low yield of the bad debt bonds they hold. The Economic Bank is losing 50 million leva a day because of delaying the decision and high interest rates, the financial news daily "Pari" writes. ==============================================================================