For ordinary Bulgarians, they have become a byword for the appropriation of EU funds
The final results of the European Parliament elections published on the official website of the Central Election Commission (CEC) showed total failure of party "environmentalists", wrote "Trud". Only 7,793 people voted with preference for Toma Belev, Albena Simeonova, Vasil Gurov, Daniela Bozhinova and Rosen Bogomilov. The five "greens" were in the list of Democratic Bulgaria, which received a total of 118,484 votes. The simple calculation showed that the contribution of "environmentalists" to the total result of the so-called "right" coalition was 6.5 per cent. The results showed something else - compared to 2014, the approval of the "greens" dropped drastically. In the previous EP elections, the party collected 12,500 votes or nearly 0.56 per cent. The CEC's official data suggested that there can be no question of any electoral burden on "environmentalists". On the contrary - they were shrinking even further from political dwarves to an absolutely insignificant figure in the public life of Bulgaria. This was against the backdrop of the pressures in the media of oligarch Ivo Prokopiev, whose round of "Capital" stood behind the parties of "Democratic Bulgaria" and the formation of the coalition. The union was presented every day several times during the election campaign as an "alternative" in the media from this circle. What - it was not clear after the coalition barely sent Radan Kanev as a MEP in the European Parliament, who was called at the last minute to run the list. The fake media campaign could not fool voters who are aware that for the last 15 years party "environmentalists" have stopped the development of entire regions and killed the livelihood of their inhabitants. As "Trud" wrote in his investigations on the subject, the "environmentalists" representing themselves as citizens are members of NGOs from the Coalition "Let nature remain in Bulgaria". The coalition was an integral part of the PP "Green", which this year was left unnamed after a final court decision. Judges have ruled that the formation has stolen the name and used it illegally. The head of the "green" circle was the former Director of Vitosha Nature Park, Toma Belev, who collected only 2 587 at European elections on Sunday. On the other hand, director Andrey Slabakov, who goes to Brussels from IMRO, has received many times more - 9 425 votes. Despite his failed participation in several national and European parliamentary elections, Belev continued to portray himself as a "citizen" who has nothing to do with politics. Currently he is an illegitimate chairman of the Association of Parks in Bulgaria - this is confirmed by the court. Together with his wife Vesselina Kavrakova, who heads the Bulgarian branch of the Swiss offshore WWF, they are behind the suspension of key projects of national and regional importance. As representatives of the two NGOs, the two lead court cases with absurd arguments and thus delay investments. Disappointment suffered also the musician Vassil Gyurov who allegedly enjoyed the huge support of the Bulgarian campers. Last summer, Gyurov was fined for illegally placing a caravan on Coral Beach. The bass guitarist is the face of the so-called wild camping that damages every municipality at the Black Sea Coast. Dozens of people pitched tents outside of the designated spots and spent their summer vacation free. As a result of their stay, landfills are formed, which the local governments cleaned up with the money from the taxes of their residents - it was an overhead for hundreds of thousands of BGN. After the vote, it turned out that Vasil Gyurov was popular only on the music scene. In the EP elections, he collected the insignificant 1732 votes. The situation was the same with the other three "greens" - Albena Simeonova collected 2479 votes, Daniela Bozhinova 227, and Rosen Bogomilov - 768. The double drop in the result of the party "environmentalists" compared to 2014 has not been commented yet. Experts on election statistics explained to "Trud" that this could be considered a new bottom for the "greens". Until recently, it was the fact that since 2008, when they entered the policy and they have not passed 1% to date. Now this low value is impossible for them. The explanation of experts is that with attacks on important projects such as the Struma highway through the Kresna Gorge, the gold mining in Tran, the gas exploration in General Toshevo, the second lift in Bansko and many more, the "environmentalists" are becoming more and more opposed to the Bulgarian public. There is another reason - unlike the normal “green” parties and organizations in Europe, the environmentalistic idea has devalued from the "environmentalists" in our country by their clientelism and by the orderly suspension of projects. For ordinary Bulgarians, they have become a byword for appropriation and misappropriation of EU funds. Only in the previous programming period the "environmentalists" in our country have appropriated over BGN 300 million. What they did not count - European ground squirrels, cormorants, sturgeons, woodpeckers, capercaillies, red-breasted geese - these projects do not bring any benefit to society and the state. The benefits are only in the pockets of "environmentalists". After Trud's findings that 34.8% of Bulgaria's territory is in Natura 2000, which damages 1,200,000 private landowners, in the October local elections the "greens" will hardly pass 0.3%. And despite the media comfort provided by the "Capital" circle, "environmentalists" are a complete failure in every respect - political, environmental, and party. Source: blitz.bg 
