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Southeast Europe
March 2, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 15
However, Varbakova said that Bulgarian banks are not participating in the financing, though she has declined to provide further details.
Meanwhile, Borissov held another phone conver- sation with Babis, asking for his help should the Bulgarian government take steps to acquire
a stake in CEZ’s assets, the government said in
a statement.
Bulgaria’s President Rumen Radev reacted to the government’s intention to acquire stake in CEZ’s local assets, saying that its actions are chaotic and contradict its own previous statements that
Debate erupts over use of Ustasha salute in Croatia
bne IntelliNews
The salute used by Croatia’s pro-Nazi WW2 Ustasha regime could be allowed “in exceptional situations” in future, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on March 1.
The debate over the use of the Ustasha salute has been reopened after an expert council delivered its recommendations to the government. They include a proposal that the Ustasha salute
"For the Homeland Ready” could be used for commemorative purposes subject to prior permission.
The Ustasha committed war crimes including the murders of hundreds of thousands of Roma, Serbs and Jews. However, some Croatians still
this is a deal between two private companies where the state cannot intervene in any way.
The deal also has raised the question of why CEZ has not found another buyer, and indeed why it decided to exit Bulgaria, where it posts profits. According to Petr Baran, former operations director of CEZ, the company decided to exit Bulgaria due to the bad business environment and the conflicts with Bulgaria’s government. Baran claimed that no serious company showed an interest in the deal and that CEZ finally decided to sell its assets to an unknown company.
Ustasha propaganda.
celebrate the regime, and see it as crucial for the later struggle against communism in Yugoslavia and the fight for independence.
The Croatian government will decide —
at the time it deems appropriate — on the recommendations made by the council for dealing with the consequences of undemocratic regimes on how to treat insignia of totalitarian regimes, Plenkovic said.
The prime minister said it was “essential” to clearly condemn totalitarian regimes including the Ustasha, which ruled Croatia from 1941 to 1945, as well as Nazism, Fascism and the Chetnik movement.