euro|topics - Alexander Andreew

Andreew, Alexander

4 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.

Dnevnik - Bulgaria | 29/11/2007

WAZ wants to toughen control of Bulgarian media

Bulgaria's two most widely read newspapers "24 Chassa" and "Trud" belong to the German media group WAZ. They recently participated in a smear campaign against art historian Martina Baleva, who had criticised the official version of the Batak massacre. The WAZ media group has now announced plans to exercise tougher control over the contents of the two newspapers in future. According to Alexander Andreev, there has been a series of intercultural misunderstandings in this debate: "There's every indication in this debate that the Bulgarian public and media still haven't adopted the cultural norms of Germany (and other EU countries). In future, there should therefore be skilled and well-intentioned mediation to avoid escalations in similar situations. The same goes for the other side: many Western Europeans should show more understanding towards the new EU members. But above all there should be no excuse for those who try to gain a political advantage from such campaigns."

Dnevnik - Bulgaria | 11/10/2007

Sofia - a collapsing city

Alexander Andreev paints a dark picture of the Bulgarian capital Sofia. "Everyone knows that the city is overcrowded, dirty, paralysed by traffic jams and unbridled construction. Everyone knows the reasons too: on the one hand there's the economic boom, the low unemployment figures, the low prices; on the other there's the totally archaic city planning, the poor infrastructure, the corruption. Each day Sofia attracts people who move there to work either temporarily or permanently, to shop, to build and - like the Sofians of old - to use the overburdened infrastructure. Around what was once a medium-sized city, cheap, densely populated suburbs where the new capitalists live are sprouting up overnight in concentric circles. It won't be long before slums make up the outermost periphery. The losers of the transition will live there and rummage around in the refuse."

Dnevnik - Bulgaria | 14/09/2007

Bulgaria in the run-up to local elections

Bulgaria will hold its local elections on October 28. Alexander Andreew comments ironically on two new trends in the election campaign: "I can safely say without exaggerating that Latin-Americanisation and Afghanistanisation are the two predominant trends in Bulgarian politics in the run-up to the local elections. Latin-Americanisation is particularly evident in the number of (false) generals who are storming the political scene. Apparently, a large part of the electorate, who are also fans of Latin America in their non-political activities (TV series and the Balkan version of the Fiesta are very popular) are already convinced that only the whip and yoke can re-establish democratic order. The Afghanistanisation is a similar trend. Democratic representation by the established parties is being watered down and overlords with money, influence and an all-powerful image in local politics are making their mark."

Dnevnik - Bulgaria | 01/06/2007

The renaissance of the KGB ideology

In Romania former members of the Securitate play an active role in everyday politics and in Bulgaria, former secret police members are running for election to the European Parliament. Is Europe witnessing a revival of KGB ideology ? asks commentator Alexander Andreew. "It's no coincidence that the only European politician who dares to voice her opinion about Putin's system is Angela Merkel, who grew up in socialist GDR. Like millions of Eastern Europeans she can distinguish between official democratic government and secret power... I don't know whether there will be a new Cold War but I'm convinced that the societies that continue to tolerate the despotism and arrogance of the so-called Chekists [the name given to members of the secret services in the states of the Warsaw Pact] are in danger of being disgraced within democratic Europe and also of falling victim to a creeping restoration like the one in Russia."

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