Bulgaria's Prime Minister Day - 'Congratulation, General!'

The beginning of February was marked by the whirl and bustle of several important headlines – after a spectacular EP performance, Kristalina Georgieva finally filled the vacancy of the Bulgarian EU Commissioner; the sister and nephew of murky Bulgarian tycoon, Iliya Pavlov, were murdered in the US; for the third week in a row, the Greek farmers’ blockade inflicts huge losses to the country’s businesses, while the nationalist leader, Volen Siderov, stirred trouble on board of a German aircraft, causing the latest embarrassment for Bulgaria’s politics.

Amidst all this, one “remarkable” story slipped from the public eye almost unnoticed: Bulgarian bodyguards will now have their own professional holiday.

November 11 will be the official Professional Day of the Bodyguard and the Private Bodyguard Services. The date has been chosen because it coincides with the day when the Patron of the Family, St. Mina is celebrated. The proposal was submitted to the Cabinet by Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov.

Data reveals that Bulgaria now has about 1 150 security companies with 60 000 employees.

With such impressive numbers, these scores of hard working people certainly deserve to have their own holiday. How exactly it is going to be celebrated, is another story … Somehow long, copious tables and loud pop folk come to mind, but this is yet to be seen.

Of course, another, even better, reason to have the Bodyguard Day is Bulgaria’s Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov. His own bodyguard past is more than glorious. In 1991, Borisov founded the highly successful company Ipon-1 Ltd. and provided security for such emblematic figures as Bulgaria's deposed Communist Dictator, Todor Zhivkov, or former Tsar and Prime Minister, Simeon Saxe-Coburg.

All throughout Europe and around the Globe, Prime Minister Borisov is referred to as THE Bodyguard. Bulgaria is simply compelled to dedicate one day of the year to this significant symbolic.

The fact that Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, is submitting the proposal does not come as a surprise either. Tsvetanov is known not only as Borisov’s right hand, but as a politician, who a long-time ago, learned how to please his boss.

The ties between the Interior and the bodyguards go, however, much deeper than the Borisov-Tsvetanov friendship, partnership and common police experience. After all, the today’s army of muscular boys, with thick necks, “bright” eyes and gold chains, originated from the former Communist security services and special task teams. Some of the contemporary Bulgarian bodyguards despise and try to disprove the above stereotype, but the saying goes that those in need of security prefer exactly former police employees and special task force members. (It is notable that one of the top Bulgarian security firms nowadays belongs to the notorious criminal boss and now inmate Zlatomir Ivanov Baretata - the Barret, an alias he owes to his past as a member of the special task team known under the same name).

60 000 individuals providing private security services in a country of 7,5 million, of whom at least 2 million retirees live near or below the poverty line, speaks volumes about the swelling income of the rest of the population in the last 20 years. When making the Professional Day proposal, the Interior seems to have overlooked the fact that the obviously huge demand for bodyguards should raise questions about the origin of this newly acquired wealth. On the other hand side, private security firms are clearly doing a great job in helping the overworked and underpaid policemen, who are in charge of providing security for the Bulgarian citizen… The bodyguards guard, the Interior guards them and so it goes - to the Professional Holiday.

THE Bodyguard is often quoted as saying that he learned a lot from his client, ex-Communist Dictator Zhivkov. So why not make the Professional Bodyguard Day a National Holiday and mandate all to march in a parade? Or merge the Day of the Great October Revolution and the Birthday of the Soviet Union (November 7), the Day of the End of Communism in Bulgaria (November 10) and the Bodyguard Day (November 11) into one huge, mass celebration?

Borisov said in a recent interview for the TV channel bTV that he regrets never learning a foreign language even though he really does not feel the need to speak one.

“When I hear "сongratulation, Borisov", I stop listening. I remember this from the times I worked at the Interior Ministry. When foreign police chiefs visited and said about a police action "сongratulation, general", I knew I did not have to listen any further,” the PM explained.

So: “Congratulation General!”

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!