The episode is in Bulgarian
In the seventh episode of our podcast, Tsvetomir Todorov and Valeria Gerganova talk to Diana Zhelyazkova, journalist from independent website "Za Istinata" (For Truth). They discuss problems in small municipalities, such as corruption, party dependence and lack of legality.
In the episode you will hear:
- Why and how political instability at the national level creates conditions for problems in small municipalities?
- Have the mayors in these localities become feudal lords?
- What is the role of community centers in these municipalities?
- Does the local government hold "both the knife and the bread" for the residents?
- Why should we read local media?
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Diana Zhelyazkova is one of the few representatives of local journalism in Shumen. She is the owner and editor-in-chief of the news website Radian.bg. Diana has experience as a director of the local "TV Shumen", as an author and presenter of TV shows and as a correspondent of national TV channels. She has won numerous journalistic awards. She is part of the team of the website "For the Truth."
The episode is in Bulgarian
In the sixth episode of our podcast, Tsvetomir Todorov talks to Vladimir Mitev about the successes and the not so successful results of the anti-corruption policy in Romania, which has acquired an almost mythological status in Bulgaria. The two draw parallels with the Bulgarian fight against corruption.
- Friendship Bridge Blog - friendshipbridge.eu
- Article "Codru Vrabie: Romania's pre-2017 'golden era' of anti-corruption was falsified"
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Vladimir Mitev is a Romanian-speaking Bulgarian journalist. He is an editor at the Romanian editorial office of Radio Bulgaria and a correspondent of Radio Romania for Bulgaria. Among other things, since 2015 he has been maintaining the Bulgarian-Romanian blog "The Friendship Bridge", which currently has over 1750 articles in English, Romanian and Bulgarian on political, social and cultural life in Bulgaria and Romania, as well as on Bulgarian-Romanian and regional international relations.
The episode is in English
The fifth episode "Schengen, but not really. What is wrong with Bulgaria and Romania" we talk to political expert Sorin Ionica from Expert Forum, Romania, with whom we discuss how Bulgarians and Romanians view our half-hearted Schengen accession, who did and did not do what over the years.
But we will not stop at the Schengen gates. We also talk about the international situation ahead of the European Parliament elections and what to expect from the growing support for right-wing and populist parties.
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Sorin Ionica is a PhD in Political Science and an expert in the field of public administration reform and development; consultant to the European Commission, the Council of Europe, the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme for Eastern Europe and the Balkans. He has been a civil society representative on the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC, Transport, Energy and Environment). He is a visiting professor at the Maastricht School of Management (MSM) and Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj. He is a graduate of the University of Bucharest and Central European University. He was a Fulbright Scholar at Georgetown University, Washington DC.
The episode is in Bulgarian
In the fourth episode of our podcast, Tsvetomir Todorov talks to attorney Ivan Yankov from YNG Legal about the issues of copyright and AI and who (artists, singers, writers, etc...) may be afraid of AI? In the episode we also discuss:
- Why is the New York Times suing OpenAI?
- Who has copyright over something created by AI?
- Should creators worry about copyright over their works when AI models are being trained?
- Is copyright legislation catching up?
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Atty. Ivan Yankov is one of the leading experts on intellectual property law in Bulgaria. He provides full legal services to Artistautor, a major Bulgarian collective rights management organisation. Ivan also advises on complex issues related to cryptocurrencies, blockchain technologies and coordinates the implementation of blockchain regulations in multiple jurisdictions around the world (China, USA, EU, South Africa, Singapore, Canada, Russia and Belarus).
The episode is in Bulgarian
In the third episode of our podcast Petya Petrova talks to Atty. Atanas Valov. They discuss what lies ahead for young lawyers who have decided to develop professionally as lawyers, what are the challenges ahead of them, the balance between work and leisure, etc.
Atty. Atanas Valov is head of the litigation and alternative dispute resolution practice at Penkov, Markov & Partners. Along with this, for more than 10 years, he has been among the organizers and judges of the National Civil and Commercial Law Competition "Kristian Takov".
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Adv. Atanas Vulov is the head of the litigation and alternative dispute resolution practice, with extensive experience in a wide range of procedural areas, including real property disputes (including restitution), construction disputes, commercial disputes, EU law, as well as disputes in the field of renewable energy and intellectual property. He is also among the heads of the property and project management practice, with a focus on commercial real estate, luxury residential development and infrastructure projects.
The episode is in Bulgarian
In the second episodse of our podcast, Tsvetomir Todorov and Bilyana Gyaurova - Wegertseder talk to Dr. Natalia Kiselova, Associate Professor of Constitutional Law. The episode is set in early 2023, when the country was still reeling from a record-breaking series of snap elections and, logically, the ensuing political instability. At the time, what the outcome of the crisis would be seemed far from clear. Therefore, one of the main themes of the episode is the crisis of parliamentarism, a problem that, alas, has not been overcome to date.
Other problems are also touched upon, such as the polarisation of society, the crisis of ideologies and political irresponsibility, as well as the massive popularity of gambling in Bulgaria. That is to say, negative phenomena that, instead of finding an adequate political and social response, are becoming more and more deeply entrenched, making the episode highly relevant to date.
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Assoc. prof. Natalia Kiselova is a Doctor of Constitutional Law since 2008. She is a lecturer at Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" since 2005 in the Department of Constitutional Law, Faculty of Law. Expert in Constitutional Law and Human Rights. Author of the monograph Political Rights of Bulgarian Citizens (Ciela, 2017, 428 pp.). She specialized at Cambridge University (2015) and Lomonosov Moscow State University (2014). She was Legal Adviser (2012-2016) and Secretary for Legal Affairs of the President of the Republic (2016-2017).
The episode is in Bulgarian
In our first episode, "Law and Propaganda", legal expert Petya Petrova talks to Georgi Marchev, from Factcheck Bulgaria. Some of the topics he touches on are related to the different dimensions of propaganda in Bulgaria, the overexploitation of patriotism, the use of fears in society against society itself, etc.
Georgi Marchev is a journalist. He is the founder, video producer and narrator of Story Films Bulgaria. He is also part of the team of Factcheck Bulgaria, a platform that deals exclusively with fact-checking.
In this introductory episode, Biliana Wegertseder, Director of BILI presents our team's new initiative - the podcast "Through the Labyrinths of Law". Here, in a creative and even entertaining way, you can learn about popular (and not so popular) topics through the prism of law.
