Command tone, gaps in the program, reluctance to form a coalition: what does Trifonov want? In fact, whose interests is he defending? And whose work does it do? The German editions “SPIEGEL” and FAC, quoted by “Deutsche Welle”, with detailed articles about Slavi Trifonov and ITN.
Today, Slavi Trifonov is in the spotlight of two of the most influential publications in Germany: SPIEGEL and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAC).
For the winner of the Bulgarian elections, SPIEGEL magazine publishes in the title: “Host, comedian, complete work of art”. The author of the portrait, Walter Mayr, draws attention to the fact that Trifonov is especially popular among Bulgarians abroad: “Many people have such strong sympathies for Slavi that they are considering whether to return to Bulgaria just because of him.” Mayr briefly tells the story of ITN and calls Trifonov a “hopeful.” “In the eyes of Trifonov’s supporters, former Prime Minister Borissov and especially his party GERB are” rubbish “that needs to be cleared up: because of corruption, bandit crime and legal arbitrariness,” the article reads.
Trifonov as part of the family
The author notes that Trifonov has not played dances for a long time, and both Mikhail Gorbachev and the Bulgarian president and the current prime minister took part in his TV show. “Some Bulgarians say that for a whole generation Trifonov almost belonged to the family and was often a guest in the homes of many Bulgarians – as a host, comedian or complete work of art,” Mayr wrote, mentioning the unprecedented success of his song. A red Ferrari. “
Like a number of other analyzes published in the international press, the SPIEGEL article compares Trifonov to other comedians and TV stars who have entered politics. And he explains the success of this endeavor as follows: “People are fed up with the parties of the status quo, as Trifonov calls them, and to this are added the serious changes in the way media products are consumed.”
According to the author, Trifonov does not want to communicate with Bulgarian journalists because he considers them completely dependent on the economic interests of their owners. Mayr compares the ITN leader to Donald Trump because, like the former US president, Trifonov communicates with people through his own channels – on Facebook and on his 7/8 television, whose office is located above his party’s headquarters. Later in the article we read:
“But what does Trifonov want and what can he achieve? His party program leaves many questions open. Along with the announced fight against corruption and in favor of a depoliticized justice, such curious ideas as the joint space flight with neighboring Northern Macedonia are emerging. More shocking, however, than the gaps in the program, is something else: the head of the ITN, who does not aspire to a government post, does not think of a coalition at first. Even with the two smaller “protest parties.”
At the end of his article, Walter Mayr talks about the vicissitudes surrounding the announced draft government: “Trifonov presented to the astonished voters the strategy, which was obviously prepared in advance, together with the list of ministers on the television he owns. His plan was presented in a commanding tone and as if without an alternative, and this imposes a single conclusion: the head of ITN risks failing and is aware of the danger that Bulgarians may go to the polls for the third time this year. “
Politics is more complicated than show business
In the FAC, Michael Martens, a good expert on Bulgarian politics, wrote the following on the same topic: “For Bulgaria, this would be the third election this year. Until then, Trifonov will probably be forced to state several more times that the political craft is a little more complicated to host an entertainment show. “
Martens also notes that the TV star does not have a meaningful concept for judicial reform, and that, unlike the months before the elections, today he no longer talks about the replacement of Chief Prosecutor Ivan Geshev, whom many Bulgarians consider severely corrupt. “Whose interests is Trifonov actually defending? And whose work is he doing?” Martens asks. He also spoke about Trifonov’s draft government and the nomination of Nikolay Vassilev as a candidate for prime minister and commented: “He justified his resignation with an angry and pathetic tone, and this once again proves that Trifonov is much better at criticizing, than to carry criticism. So at this stage, Bulgarian politics is just like a permanent vote of no confidence against the “elites”. “
The FAC analysis also discusses the idea of a joint space flight with a citizen of neighboring Northern Macedonia: “On the ground, things between the two neighboring countries are not going so smoothly at the moment. first, the Macedonians had to “admit” that “in fact” they were just a West-Bulgarian tribe, or at least that their historical and linguistic roots were in Bulgarian. For their part, Macedonians are just as adamant – and beyond all party boundaries – that only they have the right to decide what they would like to be. “
And finally: the article by Mikhail Martens in FAC is entitled “Slavi Trifonov is the election winner in Sofia. His ideas are quite eccentric.”
