Issue 197

Margarita Stancheva is one of those people who challenge stereotypes as they breathe: she is young, she runs one of the hottest recruitment agencies on the IT market, she is a young mother and is refreshingly candid when talking about business and her life. Her professional journey started in Tokyo, where she studied HR and management at the Temple University Japan, while working as a model and a kitchen helper to support herself. After she graduated in 2011, she worked for Luxsoft, Paysafe and Uber until, in 2017, she decided to continue on her own.

It was called by President Rumen Radev, who is now the de facto ruler of this country, acting through the caretaker governments he appoints, because the previous election, in October 2022, failed to produce any kind of political alignment that could form a credible government.

There are indications that the same type of impasse may result after the next election, but there are some important details analysts, voters and observers should take into consideration.

A total of 23 political parties and alliances have registered to take part in the ballot.

When Bulgarians worry about the influence of globalisation on their culture, the preservation of their traditions is one of their main concerns. While it is true that some of the rites that are a part of life in Bulgaria have been affected by globalisation and mass culture, this is hardly the first time when they have been threatened with extinction. 

The mission of NASA's Space Launch System that aims to bring back humans to the Moon in 2024 is just the latest piece of space exploration news. The USA, China and Elon Musk are trying to figure out how to colonise Mars, Korea has developed its own rocket, and besides producing stunning photos of distant galaxies the brand new James Webb Space Telescope is searching for inhabitable exoplanets.

Voters are being exposed to a plethora of pledges designed to make them feel good – and cast their ballots for whoever talks louder. Significantly, pundits and publicists try to make their speech acts as concrete as possible, knowing the increasingly wary voters are not easily impressed by nice-sounding but meaningless niceties and empty commonplaces.

A pair of dark, tender eyes glow in a delicate face crowned with a costly headdress decorated with pearls. The lady's lips are slightly curved, as if she is smiling at a private joke, or perhaps a secret she holds? The woman herself is an enigma. We know that the elegant lady painted on the walls of the Boyana Church was called Desislava and that she was the wife of Kaloyan, the handsome lord of 13th century Sofia painted next to her. But why is Desislava smiling?

1. Bulgaria celebrates its liberation from the Ottomans on...

A. 1 March

B. 3 March

C. 8 March

2. Who is Bulgaria's commander-in-chief?

A. The president

B. The prime minister

C. The defence minister

3. Bulgaria has how many UNESCO World Heritage sites?

A. 3

B. 20

C. 9