Български
EnglishWe present to you a transcript of the meeting of the Velichie Party (партия „Величие“) with civil society in Shumen (Шумен). The transcript was generated using artificial intelligence (via NotebookLM) from the video cited below.
Genadi Georgiev (Генади Георгиев): We are starting our meeting with the national anthem of Bulgaria (България). I would like to thank every Bulgarian who hears the melody of the anthem—without a doubt, their heart trembles. My name is Genadi Georgiev (Генади Георгиев), and I am the regional coordinator of the Velichie Party (партия „Величие“) for Shumen Province (Шуменска област). I would also like to invite to the stage a person who is extremely combative. In the course of this meeting, we will certainly speak about some municipalities emblematic to us in Shumen Province. So please welcome Milena Mersinkova (Милена Мерсинкова). And one more strong woman who helped us immensely in the previous elections and who is now also fulfilling her maternal duty—Stefi Andreeva (Стефи Андреева). I now give the floor to Mr. Ivelin Mihaylov (Ивелин Михайлов).
The State of the Country and the Need for Civic Engagement
Ivelin Mihaylov (Ивелин Михайлов): Good evening to everyone, and thank you for choosing, on the 23rd, instead of celebrating, to dedicate your time to discussing what we can do to organize the state better—365 days a year, for the rest of our lives. Over the years, step by step, by failing to act and by assuming that this is not our responsibility but rather the task of certain people called politicians, our state has gradually begun to collapse.
We have spoken with fellow citizens who say that in certain villages young people take drugs, do not want to develop, or leave the country, and the regions are becoming depopulated. This usually does not happen because of a good life, but because of hopelessness and the inability of a person to see meaning in doing something useful for society. Everyone tries to save themselves individually and becomes easy prey. Khan Kubrat (Хан Кубрат) left us a legacy with the bundle of arrows—that together we are strong and unbreakable. The current rulers are trying to do the opposite—to separate us again, arrow by arrow, so they can break us easily.
We will not give up. The idea that things do not depend on us is harmful and is instilled by those who want us to think that way. We recently saw how quickly large protests can bring down a government and how much power the people have. The question is to remind ourselves more often that we have power and not to wait until we reach a point of impossibility, but to exercise our civic position more regularly.
Comparison with Romania and the Problem of Corruption
No European country is as poor and devastated as Bulgaria (България). Even Romania (Румъния), which I remember from 1986—back then they sealed the train because Romanians were like locusts, coming in and stealing everything. When we joined the European Union (Европейски съюз), we said, “Why are they lumping us together with Romania? That is a backward country.” Today, Romania’s rise is enormous, because there was discipline. Every second mayor went to prison, ministers went to prison. Today, in Romania you cannot even say the word corruption. In every village there is an ambulance, dental and medical offices, and there are no ruined houses.
Here, the time has truly come to put all corrupt individuals in prison, and only we can do this. Just the other day we exposed a thief who steals 100,000 leva per day from the Hemus Motorway (автомагистрала „Хемус“)—the motorway we are waiting to connect Shumen (Шумен) with Sofia (София). This person has created quarries and supplies the state-owned company with them. They control both the entrance and exit of the motorway. That is why we will demand a full audit of all state-owned enterprises, the Bulgarian Development Bank (Българска банка за развитие – ББР), and the pension funds.
Governance Strategy and the Role of Experts
We are stuck in a swamp. Either we fight for over 120 members of parliament in order to govern the country and put things in order, or there will be no one to govern with, because among these 240 MPs, all are corrupt. We are experts. There are many such people not only in Bulgaria but also abroad. The fighters who are abroad are currently preparing very seriously to come for the elections. In Bulgaria we observe the attitude: “Let me keep my head down; others will do the work.” No one will do the work instead of us.
In Velichie (Величие) we are one family, and we are ready to give our lives for Bulgaria, because there is no turning back. These people will completely destroy the country. We are not politicians, and I am proud of that, because politicians brought Bulgaria to this state. Regions like Madara (Мадара), Pliska (Плиска), Preslav (Преслав), and the Shumen Fortress (Шуменската крепост) should flourish solely from the use of our cultural heritage.
Water and Infrastructure Problems in the Region
Today I travel and see beauty—greenery, hills. Pavel and I went to Dubai (Дубай)—there it is only desert and buildings, yet water is twice as cheap as in Bulgaria. I received a water bill for three months—800 leva—without irrigating or having anything special. At the Ticha Reservoir (язовир „Тича“), from which the people of Shumen drink, we saw in Varbitsa (Върбица) that sewage is discharged directly into it, and then no one purifies the water. Even on farms in the West, animals have cleaner and more filtered water than people in Bulgaria.
What is the level of healthcare in Shumen (Шумен)? I am from Gorna Oryahovitsa (Горна Оряховица), which is a smaller town, yet it had a high level of healthcare. Now people have to travel as far as Istanbul (Истанбул). It turns out that every second person must pay 300,000 leva to be treated there, despite paying health insurance.
Political Pressure and Repression
We went to the National Assembly (Народно събрание) to extend a hand to all political parties and help them get things in order. We told them, “Here are the solutions to fix the country—you propose them.” Instead, a fierce attack against us began. Shumen produced a political prisoner—our member is in detention without his measures or case being reviewed. They told him: “We will remove you either when Ivelin goes in, or if you go to testify against Ivelin.” His mistake was that he gave his money to do something good for the country instead of taking a state contract.
I am being threatened by the Commission for the Forfeiture of Illegally Acquired Assets (Комисия за противодействие на корупцията – КОНПИ): “Either we put you in prison, or you vote with the mafia party.” Not a single national television, nor the Chief Prosecutor (главен прокурор), raised the issue that an entire parliamentary group is being pressured to serve mafia interests.
Election Manipulation and Feudalism in Small Settlements
Varbitsa (Върбица) is an example of how elections are conducted. There used to be 8,000 people; now there are 4,000, because half are abroad. Who governs Varbitsa? Merdin Bayram (Мердин Байрям) from the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (Движение за права и свободи – ДПС). Delyan Peevski (Делян Пеевски) uses ethnic Turks and Pomaks only for one purpose—to save himself from prosecution for theft. In Varbitsa, one person liked our Facebook (Фейсбук) post and was fired from work. Disabled people have their social benefits cut off if they do not vote for the mafia. The mayor says: “Build without permits,” and then threatens: “I will demolish your houses if you do not vote for me.”
In the previous elections, the members of the precinct election commissions were supposedly from We Continue the Change–Democratic Bulgaria (Продължаваме промяната–Демократична България – ПП-ДБ), from MECH (МЕЧ), from Revival (Възраждане), ITN (Има такъв народ), and BSP (Българска социалистическа партия – БСП), but in reality all of them were from DPS (ДПС). When people enter, they are asked whom they are voting for, and there is no secrecy of the ballot.
Organizing for Fair Elections and Countering Vote Buying
Now we have the greatest prize—the right to have members in the precinct election commissions. For the first time, the people will have the opportunity to count the votes. We carried out actions in Pazardzhik (Пазарджик), and before that in Vetrino (Ветрино), Valchidol (Вълчидол), and Provadiya (Провадия). In all three municipalities, when we stood up to the bandits, we won. In the Varna region (Варненско), the mafia is not weak, but we defeated it.
In Pazardzhik (Пазарджик), DPS (ДПС) had prepared to get 40%, but thanks to civic initiatives and foreign journalists whom we brought in, we blocked vote buying. For the first time, vote buyers became the victims. One boxer was thrown around by a woman in a shop like a rag doll. In the end, DPS had only 17%.
We need people for the precinct commissions and election observers. In Shumen Province (област Шумен) there are 300 polling stations. We also need squads with drones and cameras to patrol and catch vote buyers. This will become an international scandal. If we break the schemes of loan sharks and drug dealers who buy votes, Delyan Peevski (Делян Пеевски) and Boyko Borisov (Бойко Борисов) will lose their power. They are not all-powerful; they are brazen liars.
The Destruction of Bulgarian Agriculture and the Potential for Recovery
Pavel Stoimenov (Павел Стоименов): What hurt me most about Shumen (Шумен) was when we were in Malak Preslavets (Малък Преславец) on the Danube (Дунав). There is a huge pumping station there whose pipes, according to the plan, were supposed to reach Shumen and Dobrich (Добрич). This was built by our parents, and Boyko Borisov (Бойко Борисов) destroyed it. In 2012, they created a law according to which, if anyone dares to irrigate or drill a well, they are prosecuted. I am the first person convicted under this law, because I want Bulgaria to flourish.
In Romania (Румъния), every house has a greenhouse and water for irrigation. Here, a cubic meter of water costs 5 leva. We must restore irrigated agriculture. People of Shumen, they are making an investment of 3 billion in an industrial zone for you, but 80% of it is theft. We will create cooperatives with 50% state participation and 50% farmer participation. We will build slaughterhouses and feed mills. We can bring production back and make Europeans dependent on our quality food, because theirs is plastic.
Questions from the Audience: Agriculture, Geopolitics, and Local Issues
Plamen Kirilov (Пламен Кирилов, Novi Pazar – Нови пазар): If the protests had taken place during the summer, could the government have been brought down earlier? And what is the vision for protecting small farmers, given that villages have become depopulated?
Pavel Stoimenov (Павел Стоименов): Large farmers will cede land around villages to small producers. We are working on a project whereby the state land fund around villages will be given with priority to vegetable growers and livestock breeders. Without water, however, nothing will happen. Boyko Borisov (Бойко Борисов) sold 500,000 decares of agricultural land to companies close to him, and now there are photovoltaic installations on the pastures.
Ivelin Mihaylov (Ивелин Михайлов): Regarding the protests—if the opposition had been united, the government could have fallen as early as April–May. But they are fighting over a share of the pie. We saw a hydroelectric plant of Dzhevdet Chakarov (Джевдет Чакъров), where a photovoltaic power plant was built on the site of a cherry orchard. They are destroying nature and agriculture because of subsidies and schemes.
Ivaylo (Ивайло, Varna – Варна): What do you think about drawing us into a war against Russia (Русия) and signing guarantees for Ukraine (Украйна)?
Pavel Stoimenov (Павел Стоименов): First, let us fix Bulgaria. We are losing the country right now. Egypt (Египет) is creating 6 million decares of irrigated land in the desert, while we are turning paradise into a desert.
Ivelin Mihaylov (Ивелин Михайлов): Bulgaria is not prepared for war. We do not have people motivated to fight. The military live in conditions like a shelter, and the equipment is outdated. The only danger is someone like Peevski (Пеевски) deciding to cede territory for weapons deployment in order to save himself.
Stefi Andreeva (Стефи Андреева): I spoke about the petition for the repair of Rishki Pass Boulevard (бул. „Ришки проход“). They asphalted it, but now they want to install bollards, which hinders business. Citizens must turn to institutions.
Comment from the audience: In the municipalities of Nikola Kozlevo (Никола Козлево), Kaolinovo (Каолиново), and Smyadovo (Смядово), there are large-scale projects for wind generators and solar parks on fertile land. In Smyadovo they want to build a gunpowder factory and a solar park. People do not attend public hearings out of fear or apathy.
Concluding Remarks
Ivelin Mihaylov (Ивелин Михайлов): We will fight for video recordings from election day to be recognized as evidence. Regarding water pollution—in Varbitsa (Върбица) and along the Black Sea coast (Черноморието), sewage is discharged into stormwater systems or directly into reservoirs. This is a crime that leads to a surge in cancer cases. All of this can be fixed, but the money flows into security, private jets, and the luxury of those in power. We proposed to clean up landfills for free, but they refused, because that would cost them their extortion and fine schemes. We must put an end to this mafia-style model.
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