Author: Ivaylo Noyzi Tsvetkov
DV: How did you think the full majority of "Progressive Bulgaria" was achieved?
Alexandrina Pendachanska: I think that Rumen Radev's victory was a result of fatigue, people were fed up. This was also seen in the protests. Voters hoped to find in him that "savior" who would fight corruption, deal with the status quo that is suffocating our country. For this reason, they gave him their trust. Unfortunately, however, instead of really starting to dismantle the model, the government has surrounded itself with people who one might get the impression represent the very model they were supposed to rid us of. Apart from counting Peevski's flights, we have not seen any serious anti-corruption investigation so far. Not to mention the budget and prices. It seems that Radev is unable to fulfill any of his promises of higher incomes, price control, more security and the fight against corruption, which he made before the elections and for which he was actually elected.
"This is faulty logic, it is absurd"
At the same time, his foreign policy puts at risk a choice that Bulgaria has already made, has suffered. With the united efforts of all Bulgarians, our country has realized its ideal of being an equal part of Europe, and now suddenly, instead of being a proactive country, with a worthy place in achieving the common goals of the European Union, the government is behaving ambivalently, ambiguously. With the absurd explanation that aid for Ukraine would only prolong the war with Russia, Radev withdrew Bulgaria from the so-called Coalition of the Willing. I wonder if the US and Britain had used the same logic not to "prolong" the military conflict in Europe, how would World War II have ended? Can you imagine if they had let Hitler take over all of Europe and part of the USSR so as not to "prolong" the war? This is faulty logic, it is absurd. It is part of Russia's propaganda narrative.
DV: Is this victory of Radev more personal - or is some pendulum swinging in a "multivector" direction?
Alexandrina Pendachanska: I think that people voted for Radev personally. That is why their disappointment will fall on him with all its weight.
DV: Which danger facing Bulgaria is more realistic - the foreign policy one, related to a possible reorientation, or the internal one of the "the more state, the better" type?
Alexandrina Pendachanska: Unfortunately, both dangers are equally realistic. Every day we see how power advances through the media, how it takes over the state machine in a painfully familiar way. At the same time, Bulgaria is increasingly falling into foreign policy isolation from Western partners, while Russian politicians are pleased with Radev and praise him. These signals are unambiguous enough about the risks facing Bulgaria and should worry all of us.
"We must decide where we are going - back to the past or forward to the future"
DV: What is this next "time of division" that has come to Bulgaria - and at perhaps our most prosperous moment in many years?
Alexandrina Pendachanska: Here is Rumen Radev's great fault - that he divided the Bulgarians. He divided us because he questioned a choice that has already been made, and at the cost of our joint efforts - our joining the alliances of Western civilization. And suddenly this choice of ours is being reconsidered and reformulated, while flirting with Putin's dictatorial regime. We are also divided because now, more than ever in the last 10-15 years, we have to decide where we are going - back to the past or forward to the future.
DV: You headed, together with Konstantin Valkov, the initiative committee that nominated the presidential candidate tandem Gyurov-Kandev. What are the strengths and weaknesses of this candidacy?
Alexandrina Pendachanska: I believe that the right path for Bulgaria is that of modernity and development, not the past and decline. And I am convinced that Andrey Gyurov will lead our country in this very direction. As Prime Minister, he proved that he is an independent, strong and courageous person who owes nothing to anyone. No one can tell him "have mercy on so-and-so".
Andrey Gyurov and Georgi Kandev will never kneel before anyone. I cannot erase from my mind this humiliating and shameful image for Bulgaria, in which our president and vice-president knelt at the feet of the Russian ambassador Mitrofanova, who refused to pay tribute to the Bulgarian heroes of the Unification. Nor can I erase the image of Yotova kneeling before the senior KGB officer, even though he was wearing a kukolion (the traditional "hat" of the Russian patriarch - ed.). Andrey Gyurov and Georgi Kandev will not kneel before anyone. Otherwise, some see as a weakness of the Gyurov-Kandev tandem the fact that they are not experienced, experienced politicians, but I perceive this rather as an advantage. Maybe they are not so experienced and dexterous, but they are not tainted. There is something authentic and pure about them - so unknown or rather forgotten in our politics.
DV: What is their USP (unique selling proposition), if we borrow an expression from the dictionary of marketers? That unique advantage that distinguishes them from others and would lead them to a runoff?
Alexandrina Pendachanska: It is precisely their authenticity, their purity. There are no foreign interests behind them, no political schemes or agreements. These are independent people who are guided solely by their principles, beliefs and dreams for a stronger, fairer, dignified, modern and happy Bulgaria.
"Civic awareness is part of my wholeness"
DV: A bunch of bright Russian minds from the sphere of culture and the arts were forced to emigrate, in some cases - literally to save themselves. The last such case is with the great director Andrei Zvyagintsev. At the same time, there are quite a few artists and creators who support the regime - for example, Anna Netrebko. Can there be true art without a moral precept?
Alexandrina Pendachanskaya: For me, it is absolutely impossible. We are whole beings. Awareness of this wholeness makes it unacceptable to maintain a posture of independence and disinterest in the processes that are developing in the world around us. Therefore, I sympathize with and understand all the great Russian artists who are forced to flee Putin's dictatorship.
I have always been a civic activist, no matter how busy I have been with my career. And I have not changed one iota over the past almost 40 years - I am the same person who ran around the squares and student strikes in the early 1990s, and to this day, now at 56 years old. Both then and now I have defended the same beliefs and principles. Civic awareness is part of my wholeness, of the person I am.
DV: Will you return to the opera stage?
Alexandrina Pendachanska: I have finished my active stage career. It is time to rejoice with my students - the stage now belongs to them.