ROSEANNA GYLES
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Bulgarian Outski rts First Edition 2017 Š Roseanna Gyles
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior permission of the author. The information in this book has been collected from a multitude of relevant sources. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure accuracy the author nor publishers should not be held responsible for any mistakes or omissions. Some names have been changed to preserve anonymity. 2
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Introduction Once one of the most successful satellite states within the Soviet bloc, Bulgaria has undergone dramatic transformations since its transition to a capitalist free-market economy. Many of these changes might be characterised by regression rather than development as the country struggled to build a successful and stable capitalist economy. As a consequence large regions of Bulgaria appear frozen in time. In many cases it seems the only thing to have developed since the take down of communism is the flora, as it reclaims the visual remains of the once highly functioning economy. Research suggests that many of the issues in Bulgaria today are deeply rooted in corruption. Unlike other countries of the former USSR Bulgaria did not pass a lustration law to eject people from government posi-
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tions who were found to be guilty of corruption or oth-
lation to the murder of writer, radio broadcaster and
er crimes and complicities relating to their positions
communist dissident Georgi Markov in London 19782.
under the communist regime. In fact by around 2006
According to popular belief and validated by key wit-
lustration, even as a foreseeable future process in Bul-
nesses and the remains of CSS dossiers (many files
garia, was banned. This has meant that many people
from this period were intentionally destroyed) Markov
in governing and political positions who would have
was shot by an unnamed CSS agent using an umbrel-
been found guilty of corruption in other countries are
la gun which was loaded with poisonous pellets. The
still able to work freely without consequence and with-
pellets were full of the deadly poison ricin and the gun
in positions of power.
disguised as an umbrella was reportedly developed by the KGB specifically to aid the Bulgarian CSS in
The Committee for State Security (CSS) was the name
this mission.
given to Bulgaria’s secret service department. The CSS allegedly worked alongside the KGB, the major
In order to be more transparent and democratic the
secret service of the Soviet Union and perhaps one
secret police file repositories, both in Bulgaria and in
of the most notorious intelligence agencies in history.
neighbouring Romania which had also failed to implement lustration as part of its transitional processes,
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Former KGB General turned scholarly lecturer and
began reviewing and publicly disclosing the files of
author Oleg Kalugin claims the KGB provided tech-
thousands of current government officials and em-
nical assistance to the Bulgarian secret service in re-
ployees. Cynthia Horne coined this process ‘Silent
Lustration’ in her article for the ‘Problems of Post-Com-
the CSS payroll as a ‘secret collaborator’, the details
munism’ journal, published in 20151. Amongst other
of this role are, as the name suggests, not available.
controversies the government directive found that 45 of Bulgaria’s senior diplomats were secret service
According to Kastadinov the directive also found that
agents during the communist regime. This is almost
Tosho Toshev, editor-in-chief of Trud, the newspa-
half of Bulgaria’s total number of diplomats.
per said to have the highest circulation of any daily newspaper in the country, was also a collaborator with
Petar Kostadinov reported in The Sofia Echo in 2009
the CSS. Toshev is also the executive editor of Media
that the directive had also uncovered that 36 of Bul-
Holding (the publisher of Trud) and chairperson of the
garia’s high ranking newspaper journalists had also
Union of Bulgarian Publishers. Toshev worked for the
been secret service agents or affiliated with the CSS
CSS from 1975 until the take down of communism in
is some way3. 24 Chasa, a daily newspaper with the
1990, his codename was ‘Bor’. In 2012 Toshev was
second highest circulation in the country was one of
granted Bulgaria’s greatest state honour for an out-
the worst in terms of how many ex-CSS workers they
standing contribution to Bulgarian journalism, the
had employed and what role these people had played
award was given to him by former President Georgi
in the regime. Amongst them were Pencho Kovachev
Purvanov (himself a former researcher for the CSS)
and Aleksenia Dimitrova, both had agent status and worked under the codename ‘Vladimir’. More suspi-
The unresolved corruption within the country means
ciously popular news personality Boiko Boikov was on
that its governing and political bodies lack support
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by the citizens and international investors. Without
ity increased and people became unhappy with the
investment there is a lack of work so unemployment
governments measures of safeguarding them and
figures are also high. Unemployment can give rise to
more aware of the unresolved corruption, tax avoid-
organised crime, which further adds to the unfavoura-
ance also increased. Evidence from a 2014 study by
ble investment climate and can also directly harm the
Adam Okulicz-Kozaryn suggests that there is a vi-
economy by removing money from it and deploying it
cious cycle working within many Eastern European
within the black market. The issue with having a weak
countries where people prefer a more redistributive
economy is the government has less money to devel-
approach to income, people become unhappy with
op things like schools, roads, or adequate healthcare
income inequalities, tax avoidance ensues and as a
and welfare systems for example.
result the government has less money to solve the initial issues. Okulicz-Kozaryn further adds that “East
Nostalgia for communism has been built on this insta-
Europeans view the welfare through the lenses of their
bility of government and economy and the struggles
own success�4, meaning that those who are better off
this has imposed on citizens during this transitional
than they were during communism do not favour re-
period. Living situations have worsened for many Bul-
distribution whilst those that are not, do.
garians since the collapse of communism. Reasons for this include the lack of guaranteed employment and cuts to redistributive welfare. As income inequal-
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A truck delivers soft drinks to village shops, called magazins, in the Dve Mogili Municipality. 10
Rural life and culture In rural Bulgaria cultural traditions and ways of life are much more noticeably upheld than in the more westernised cities. In contrast with more built-up areas rural towns and villages are often seemingly lacking development or upkeep. The visual landscape has a more rugged and less commercial look overall which is much more pronounced in rural areas.
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Necrolog posters like the one above and those to the right are made by people with a close relationship to the deceased. They typically contain the name of the deceased, a photograph, the date on which they passed away and sometimes a short sentence about them or a statement of grief from whoever made the poster. 12
The posters are placed outside the deceased home and then around the area at various places where they frequented, dedicated walls like this one have developed over time. The yellow poster towards the bottom of the wall is a little bit out of place, it states that on the 6th of August (2016) people were coming to the town to buy hair and old watches.
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Necrolog posters are typically posted immediately following a death and then again at intervals over the coming months, the posters are then traditionally reposted on the anniversary of an individuals death. 14
Necrolog posters have become a part of the visual landscape of Bulgaria, it might seem eerie to us to have a constant reminder of the deceased peering through photographs wherever we go but for Bulgarian’s this is everyday life. According to the research of Bulgarian student Emilia Karaboeva this culture of printing necrolog posters and hanging them around the area and at the home of the deceased began with the incursion of the communist regime in 19465. During communism the state controlled newspapers did not print obituaries for everyone, only for people deemed important within the regime. Karaboeva states that the necrolog street poster culture grew from this as a way to bring acknowledgement back to those who had died when newspapers no longer took interest in publishing it5. 15
Another noticeable feature of the urban Bulgarian landscape is the blue enamel house numbers. 16
These numbers have truly stood the test of time, handed out during communism they are still widely used today.
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These communist relics are a symbol of strength and durability; in many cases like the scene pictured to the left they are the lasting pieces of the otherwise crumbling 18
surroundings.
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In rural Bulgaria houses often come equipped with a large expanse of land, usually this is utilised for growing food or keeping animals. There were around ten goats behind these gates. 20
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Signs indicating things customers are not allowed to bring into this shop. These include guns and cameras, quite often with the larger superstore shops customers are even asked to leave their bags in their cars and each person’s receipt is checked against the items as they have as they leave.
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These traditional brooms are handmade from plant matter; they have become a symbol of Bulgaria for their consistent form. A village within the Veliko Tarnovo Province has reportedly been making brooms like these for over 200 years, the longest of any manufacturer of brooms in Bulgaria to date6. 24
Lada cars were extremely popular in former countries of the Soviet Bloc, the factory which produced them was the largest car manufacturer in Russia during Soviet rule.
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Farm vehicles come in all shapes and sizes 28
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Trees are often painted white at the bottom to help prevent bug infestations over winter. 30
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An outdoor shower like this one is a common feature in many backyards of Bulgaria. In warmer months it pays to harness the heat from the sun to heat water for washing with. 32
Penu, a retired guard who lives almost exclusively off the land stands proudly by his newly renovated rakia distillery. Rakia is a type of alcoholic spirit which can be made from various types of fruit, Penu makes his rakia with grapes which he grows. Rakia is often enjoyed at the start of a meal with one of the traditional salads, it is also served warm and spiced in winter. Rakia is a popular drink in many Balkan countries but it is thought that it originated in Bulgaria. 33
FOOD With such defined seasons plant life in Bulgaria flourishes bountifully. Due to these perfect conditions a great amount of food is generated from the land and dispersed within the local areas. This decreases the amount of outsourced food required and as such the green house gasses from food production and transportation are also lessened.
Bulgarian student of Arabic and Chinese Maria Wu stated in an interview: “Now I can compare the taste of the food (fruits and vegetable) at home and in many places in Europe. The best apples, tomatoes, cucumbers and so on which I have ever tried were in Bulgaria�7.
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Corn dries to a crisp in the summer sun.
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The corn shown here has been left outside to completely dry because it will be used as animal feed. 36
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A bee-keeper uses a beehive smoker to safely view his bees without the need for a full protective suit. 38
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Fresh honey can be bought from many village shops or from the bee-keepers themselves. If you prefer crystallised honey you can get the bee-keeper to put some crystallised pieces in your jar to kick-start the crystallisation process. In around two to three weeks the honey will be completely crystallised like the jar on the left.
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These peaches have been preserved in a sugary water with a juniper leaf. They will keep for months this way, when they are ready to be enjoyed the lid will need to be torn off. It is not a screw top like we are used to in the UK but rather came as a flat disc which was moulded to the jar using heat. The peaches are eaten and the flavoured water is consumed as a beverage.
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Bulgaria has the perfect climate for growing watermelons. One tiny village called Salmanovo survives almost entirely from money gained through watermelon production. They have had a watermelon themed festival there annually for the past 23 years. During the festival around 3000 watermelons are demolished in activities which include watermelon fighting, carving and eating contests8.
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This garden space has been utilised for growing rows of peppers. 44
Many different types of squash are grown and consumed around Bulgaria. Whilst they are in season they are also used as decoration before they are eaten, these ones have even been grown decoratively, hanging along the outwards facing fence of a property for passers by to admire.
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The bumpy apple like fruit of this tree are called quince.
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Grapevines make great coverage for growing herbs and other small plants under. 48
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Shopska salad is one of Bulgaria’s traditional salads. Salads are especially enjoyed throughout the warmer months and as such Bulgaria has quite a large list of these unique traditional salads, which can be found on most restaurant menus. The main ingredients of Shopska salad are tomatoes, cucumbers and the traditional Bulgarian fresh cheese, serene. Usually the salad will also contain roasted peppers and an olive or two.
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Markets like this one are only around during the warmer months when there is a great array of fresh produce in season.
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Cyrillic is the written language of Bulgarian and was also reportedly developed in Bulgaria by scholars 54
during the medieval era9.
Кг is Kg (kilogram) in English and 1 Bulgarian Lev is the equivalent of about 50 English pence. Much of the fresh produce sold at this market costs around 50 pence or less per Kg.
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ECONOMY
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There is virtually no way to make money through crop farming in winter so fresh fruit and vegetable markets simply shut down for around three full months each year.
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The unique little stalls at this market can be rented and produce can be locked inside them over night.
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A florist and a fishmonger enjoy some fresh air outside their respective shops. 59
A post office in the city of Ruse. 60
The City Government Office in Popovo town. 61
Little stands like this one selling newspapers, tobacco and chewing gum are very typical in Bulgaria.
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A man walks by a beauty parlour.
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Empty shops and commercial units litter the landscapes of even the most built up towns and cities.
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This is ironic given the current economic situation, further adding to nostalgia for communism as citizens are regularly exposed to the remains of the once highly functioning economy. 65
EDUCATION Momchil Ivanov Dochev is a young Bulgarian male studying Human Resource Management at the University of Leeds. Originally from Sevlievo, a small town in the centre of Bulgaria Momchil considers himself ‘one of the lucky ones’ because he has been able to afford a western education. Momchil stated that, “Education in Bulgaria is quite worrying compared to western standards, materials students study from are quite old and bland, new textbooks for students are designed politically and many times are very very misinformative and incomplete”10. Momchil added further that from his understanding a university education is not out of reach for most Bulgarians but the quality of this education is severely lacking as resources are limited and teaching staff have little incentive, due mainly to low pay. From observing his peers experiences of higher education in Bulgarian Momchil adds that “there are many non-academic sources involved in the studying and students have literally no knowledge on how to identify and use contemporary journals and credible books”10.
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The entrance to a former school in the village of Batishnitsa, the school closed because there reportedly weren’t enough children to warrant keeping it open. The railings are painted with the colours of the Bulgarian flag. 68
A school bus now runs to a town nearby. Many villages are suffering the same issue; as people move to the larger towns and cities for work, village populations decline. 69
DESERTED
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The cracked wall of a long abandoned village home.
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Derelict buildings and neglected areas serve as a constant reminder of the prosperity the country once enjoyed.
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Traces of this past economic success are everywhere, main roads have giant potholes and smaller roads are often falling away at the sides. Large areas have gone without physical development for over 25 years. 73
Momchil stated that money is the reason so many homes are seen left abandoned often still with their former occupants belongings inside, but many times pillaged by thieves10. 74
Maria agreed with this and added that after the end of communism there was no longer guaranteed employment or welfare for all so many people from the smaller villages and towns had to relocate to find work7. 75
Maria further added that she had seen entire villages where all of the properties had 76
been abandoned7.
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Another cause for the shrinking villages is the exciting new developments that are happening in the cities which are drawing in the younger generations. Many villages today are home almost entirely to the elderly. 78
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Houses and buildings need to be looked after to survive the dramatic seasonal weather changes. 80
In some cases things have been left exactly how the former occupants left them. 81
Clothes and newspapers line the floor of this old cottage, the crossword on one of the pages has been filled in.
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The kitchen furniture of this house still has a number of the owners jars, complete with undecipherable foods. The commercially produced jar would have once contained lyutenitsa, a tomato preserve of which Bulgaria is renowned for.
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Nature will quickly reclaim lost soil, especially if a window or door is left open.
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The attic of an abandoned village home designed and built by two brothers. Both architects the brothers built two identical houses next to each other for each of them and their families to live in. The other house is still lived in whilst this house is so overgrown it’s difficult to even enter it.
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Even where houses have clearly been left abandoned for years they are not legally allowed to be sold or destroyed in case the owner should come back at any time.
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In some cases buildings have been abandoned before construction has even been completed.
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It is common to find old bottles like the one on the left inside abandoned homes. These would have originally been used to store rakia or make other 92
types of wine and alcohol.
Hops have made their way through this window, wild hops grow all over the country and have long been used to make traditional Bulgarian beer. 93
Nature
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Sycamore trees like this one are plentiful in Ruse City Park.
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This garage was left untouched by human hands for only two years.
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Amidst the beige and green rough land a delicate flower stretches for its share of sunlight. 97
Driving between towns and villages you can see field after field of open space and crops. 98
Movement has caused the tree in this photograph to resemble an abstract face.
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ANIMALS Bulgaria has an issue with stray feral and do-
even killing people for food. One such instance
mesticated animals. Dogs and cats roam free
happened in 2012 when Boteo Tachkov, an 88
everywhere. On one hand this represents a kind
year old Bulgarian professor who had immi-
of freedom for the animals not ordinarily seen in
grated to the US in 1962 but returned to Bul-
westernised societies, but opinions and ideolo-
garia in his older years to retire, was mauled by
gies about the animals have shaped countless
a pack of around 20 dogs. Though his wounds
barbaric and often nationalised government
were recovering he died in hospital in the days
controlled initiatives to eradicate them.
that followed the incident after suffering multiple cardiac complications11.
The focus of these issues has mainly been the
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dogs since they can become a hazard when
Professor Tachkov’s death sparked outrage
their population reaches unmanageable levels
and consequently brutality towards the stray
and they subsequently group together in packs
dog population ensued. According to Occu-
to find food. Although not a regular occurrence
py for Animals following Tachkov’s death the
throughout the years Bulgaria has had multiple
mayor of Sofia released a statement ordering
instances of packs of stray dogs attacking and
that all dogs in the district that could be caught
should be killed12. The Sofia news agency Novinite reported in 2012 that Mariyana Kirilova, Tachkov’s niece had spoken out against the mayor’s decision on national television11. Kirilova stated, “This is just an animal, how can we blame it? I think we, people, are to be held responsible; we are all guilty. I hope his tragic death can lay the foundation of something constructive so that we can finally eradicate this problem. He would not have wished for the dogs to be massacred. Those who failed to do their job must be the ones punished”11. 101
The mayor’s statement also went against EU animal welfare regulations and as such a battle began over the coming months as animal rights activists got involved in the issue. The government released several other statements regarding the measures it would take to resolve the issue; eventually 102
agreeing to use the capture,
neuter and return method to target the issue. Whilst being the most humane method of dealing with stray dogs this is also the only proven long-term solution to controlling stray dog populations. The Sofia Globe reported successful results from using this method in 2015, as cited in a government report13.
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There is no neuter programme in place for stray cats and as a result the summer months see an overpopulation of young cats struggling to grasp the skills and harness the strength needed to survive. 104
Many of these kittens resort to begging from humans but they are rarely tame enough to get very close to.
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It is a case of survival of the fittest, the large tom cat above for example is likely to survive longer than his weaker or smaller counterparts because he will win any competition for food. The cats featured above are not mother and offspring as it may appear, rather they are an unlikely partnership who spend almost all of their time together. A male cat and a male kitten, there is no mother cat. There are several other cats who live nearby, a large male dominates, he is fully tame and his condition would suggest he is looked after. He attacks the other cats whenever he sees them, they are skeletal and dehydrated but there isn’t any water close by. 106
The unlikely partnership was a trio only two days before this photograph was captured; a beautiful white female kitten was the other pack member, even more skeletal than the others. She was found curled up by the road on the night of an extremely hot day, her tiny body was bouncing with flees which appeared larger and pronounced against her fresh white coat. She was wet so it is unclear whether she died from the starvation or whether something else had happened, an attack for example. In the end her fate was likely already sealed whatever the reason was.
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Wherever there are goats or other animals kept for the purpose of food there is usually also a ‘guard dog’, just an average sized mutt normally, meant to sound the alarm more than anything. These dogs will normally spend almost all of there lives chained up in these pens, often being fed a steady diet of bread.
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Goats are typically kept in small numbers for their milk and for their meat, each village has a shepherd who will take the goats out everyday to graze around the area for a small fee each month.
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In rural Bulgaria horses and donkeys are still typically kept and used to transport crops. In the warmer months they are kept chained up by one leg at the sides of quiet roads where they graze on the grassy sidewalks. In winter when there can be up to three feet of snow they must be kept inside where they are usually fed on hay and other dried foods. 110
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Chickens are kept and bred both for their eggs and eventually for their meat. These youngsters were only around two months old when this photograph was taken.
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References 1.
Cynthia Horne (2015) Silent Lustration. Problems of Post-
Communism (journal), Vol. 62 Issue 3, pp. 131-144. 2.
Christopher Nehring (2017) Umbrella or pen? The murder of
Georgi Markov. New facts and old questions. Journal of Intelligence History (journal), Vol. 16 Issue 1, pp. 47-58. 3.
Petar Kostadinov (2009) On the record; thirty-six leading
Bulgarian journalists exposed as former communist-era secret service collaborators. The Sofia Echo (newspaper), Dec 11, Issue 50, p. 1. 4.
Adam Okulicz-Kozaryn (2014) Winners and Losers in Transition:
Preferences for Redistribution and Nostalgia for Communism in Eastern Europe. Kyklos (journal), Vol. 67 issue 3, pp. 447-461. 5.
Emilia Karaboeva (2010) Bulgarian Street “Necrolog”--The
Multiplied Sophisticated Face of Death. Carolyn Gilbert’s Art of the Obituary (blog). 6.
Anely M Nedelcheva et al (2007) Plants traditionally used to
make brooms in several European countries. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine (online journal). 7.
Maria Wu (2017) In an interview for this book.
8.
Associated Press (2010) Bulgaria’s watermelon festival. NDTV
(website). 9.
Florin Curta (2006) Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500-
1250 (book). 10.
Momchil Ivanov Dochev (2017) In an interview for this book.
11.
Yordanka Fandakova (2012) Late Bulgarian Professor Would not
Want Killing Stray Dogs. Novinite (website). 12.
Occupy for animals (2012) Bulgaria, the stray dogs of Sofia are in
eminent danger! OFA (website). 13.
The Sofia Globe staff (2016) Number of stray dogs captured in
Bulgaria increased – government report. The Sofia Globe (website) 113
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