23 septembre 2007
Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha makes statement
| 23 September 2007 | 12:47 | FOCUS News Agency |
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Sofia. Leader of National Movement for Stability and Progress (MNSP) Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha made a statement in reference to the announced data from Yane Yanev and the Order, Lawfulness and Justice /OLJ/ political party about information for Simeon’s collaboration with the secret services in the past. The statement is published on the web site of NMSP. |
30 juin 2007
Simeon Saxe Coburg Gotha Received Bulgarian State Top Honours
The president Georgi Parvanov bestowed Bulgarian state top honours, the medal “Stara Planina”, to Simeon Saxe Coburg Gotha – prime minister of Bulgaria for the period 2001-2005.
The president pointed that after half a century of exile Simeon Saxe Coburg Gotha came back to Bulgaria, undertaking the not easy task to respond to the numerous public expectations and to give good perspective for the country.
Parvanov expressed certainty that today, from the distance of time, the result of Simeon Saxe Coburg Gotha 's leadership could be better assessed.
The president claimed that the former prime minister had a significant contribution a new political climate to be set in the country, new atmosphere of tolerance, dialogue, seeking of the common things in the name of the national interest. Parvanov stressed also Simeon's role for Bulgaria's membership in NATO and EU.
Simeon Saxe Coburg Gotha took the award and said he accepted it in the name of Bulgaria and values it very highly.
The former prime minister claimed that due to the confidence between him, current prime minister Stanishev and Ahmed Dogan, things had been achieved that few people could anticipate.
Saxe Coburg Gotha underlined that there were still a lot to be done and to be sought as aim for “the common well-being of our fellow countrymen”.
http://international.ibox.bg/news/id_2020979736
19 juin 2007
Plovdiv utility sell-off wed to out-of-court settlement of power distributor sale
The finalisation of the sale of the Plovdiv district heating utility to EVN has been tied to the reaching of an out-of-court settlement with the Austrian company on the botched privatisation of the Sunny Beach resort power distribution company, sources close to the negotiations told Dnevnik. In October 2006, EVN was tapped to acquire the Plovdiv heating company for 32.1 mln euro. However, the sale is yet to be approved by the supervisory board of the Privatisation Agency (PA). The deal has been in limbo for months as the government reportedly tries to trade it off for an out-of-court settlement with EVN on the sale of the Sunny Beach power distributor which the Austrian company was poised to acquire as well. Stefan Szyszkowitz, chairman of the EVN Bulgaria managing board, refused to comment on the alleged reports for an out-of-court settlement negotiations. PA chief Todor Nikolov also refused to comment on the alleged connection between the two privatisation deals and said that more information will be made public in a week. The acquisition of the Sunny Beach power distributor was agreed as part of EVN's purchase of the Plovdiv and Stara Zagora regional power distribution companies. EVN and the government agreed on a sale price of 27.1 mln euro. The government also agreed to accept pecuniary liability should the sale fall through. The minority shareholders in the Sunny Beach power distributor rejected the sale price, claiming it undervalued the assets of the company. They went on to block the transaction at three general meetings. Two further valuations of the power distributor were prepared, one for 42.5 mln levs and a second one, commissioned by the PA, for 37.5 mln levs. In early 2007, the mess prompted EVN to lodge a request for arbitration with the International Arbitration Court in Paris. Ever since, the government has been trying to convince EVN to agree to repocket 20% of the Plovdiv utility deal price credited to an escrow account as a compensation for the failed sale of the Sunny Beach power distributor. (Dnevnik) |
16 juin 2007
Bulgaria's Ex-King Simeon II Celebrates 70th Birthday
Simeon Saxe-Coburg Gotha, the leader of the Bulgarian National Movement for Stability and Progress, and the country's ex-king celebrates on Saturday his 80th birthday.
All his children and grandchildren came to Bulgaria to celebrate with him the happy occasion.
On June 16, 70 years ago the church bells in the whole country started tolling to announce that the crown prince, who would be the next king, was born. To make everybody share their joy, the king and the queen gave broad amnesty to prisoners and the children in schools were given higher marks. Some days later the future king was christened with water, specially brought from the Jordan River.
On August 28, 1943, after the sudden death of King Boris III, little Simeon, only 6 years old, ascended to the throne. He could not rule, so regents were appointed. After the communist coup d'etat on September 9, 1944, Simeon was left to be king, but all his regents were executed. Two years later he, together with his sister Princess Maria Luisa and his mother Queen Yoanna, were sent in exile to Alexandria in Egypt. In June 1951 the three were given political asylum.
In 1996 Simeon came back to Bulgaria after nearly 50 years of exile. In 1998 he Constitutional Court decided to return to Simeon all his family's properties, which stirred a huge uproar among the right-wing parties of the time. In 2001 Simeon announced he wanted to establish a national movement, carrying his name that would work for new ethics in politics. His Simeon II National Movement was registered as a party and he even took part in the parliamentary elections on June 17, 2001. After a smashing victory, he became the new prime minister of Bulgaria.
His cabinet took Bulgaria to two of its strategic goals - NATO membership and accession to the European Union.
Simeon Saxe-Coburg was re-elected leader of his party on June 3, 2007, when his party changed its name to National Movement for Stability and Progress (NMSP). On Friday Bulgarian president Georgi Parvanov signed the decree to award the former monarch Simeon the Stara Planina medal, first degree, the country's highest civilian distinction.
The award is ostensibly timed to coincide with Saxe-Coburg's 70th anniversary, but also serves as a show of support for the ex-king, who faces rebellion from unhappy MPs from his party.
NMSP is part of the three-way ruling coalition with the Socialists, Parvanov's former party, and the ethnic Turk Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), engineered by the Bulgarian president after the indecisive parliamentary elections in 2005.
source : Sofianews
Bulgaria's Ex-King Simeon II Celebrates 70th Birthday
 Simeon's whole family - his 4 sons, his daughter Kalina and his 11 grandsons gathered for the happy occasion. Photo by Yuliana Nikolova (Sofia Photo Agency) | buy photo | |
Simeon Saxe-Coburg Gotha, the leader of the Bulgarian National Movement for Stability and Progress, and the country's ex-king celebrates on Saturday his 80th birthday.
All his children and grandchildren came to Bulgaria to celebrate with him the happy occasion.
On June 16, 70 years ago the church bells in the whole country started tolling to announce that the crown prince, who would be the next king, was born. To make everybody share their joy, the king and the queen gave broad amnesty to prisoners and the children in schools were given higher marks. Some days later the future king was christened with water, specially brought from the Jordan River.
On August 28, 1943, after the sudden death of King Boris III, little Simeon, only 6 years old, ascended to the throne. He could not rule, so regents were appointed. After the communist coup d'etat on September 9, 1944, Simeon was left to be king, but all his regents were executed. Two years later he, together with his sister Princess Maria Luisa and his mother Queen Yoanna, were sent in exile to Alexandria in Egypt. In June 1951 the three were given political asylum.
In 1996 Simeon came back to Bulgaria after nearly 50 years of exile. In 1998 he Constitutional Court decided to return to Simeon all his family's properties, which stirred a huge uproar among the right-wing parties of the time. In 2001 Simeon announced he wanted to establish a national movement, carrying his name that would work for new ethics in politics. His Simeon II National Movement was registered as a party and he even took part in the parliamentary elections on June 17, 2001. After a smashing victory, he became the new prime minister of Bulgaria.
His cabinet took Bulgaria to two of its strategic goals - NATO membership and accession to the European Union.
Simeon Saxe-Coburg was re-elected leader of his party on June 3, 2007, when his party changed its name to National Movement for Stability and Progress (NMSP). On Friday Bulgarian president Georgi Parvanov signed the decree to award the former monarch Simeon the Stara Planina medal, first degree, the country's highest civilian distinction.
The award is ostensibly timed to coincide with Saxe-Coburg's 70th anniversary, but also serves as a show of support for the ex-king, who faces rebellion from unhappy MPs from his party.
NMSP is part of the three-way ruling coalition with the Socialists, Parvanov's former party, and the ethnic Turk Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), engineered by the Bulgarian president after the indecisive parliamentary elections in 2005.
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=81927
Bulgarian Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was born on this day in 1937
| 16 June 2007 | 02:04 | FOCUS News Agency |
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On this day, in 1937 Simeon Saxe-Coburg Gotha, son of King Boris III and Queen Joanna, was born in Sofia, Bulgaria. |
28 mars 2007
Le petit-fils de l’ex-roi de Bulgarie prénommé Hassan, à la mémoire de feu SM Hassan II
La princesse de Bulgarie Kalina a présenté vendredi son bébé aux photographes, en précisant qu’il porterait à la fois le prénom de son grand-père, Siméon, et celui de feu SM Hassan II.
Né le 14 mars, le petit Siméon Hassan est le petit-fils de l’ex-souverain bulgare Siméon II de Saxe-Cobourg-Gotha.
La première photo de famille publique a eu lieu à Vrania, résidence dans la banlieue de Sofia, que la famille royale s’était faite restituer après la chute du communisme.
"Mon amour et mon respect infini pour mon père m’a fait décider de prénommer (le bébé) Siméon", a déclaré Kalina, 35 ans.
"A la mémoire du roi défunt du Maroc et du grand attachement entre les deux familles, le bébé portera aussi le nom Hassan", a ajouté la princesse, cinquième enfant de Siméon II, dans un communiqué distribué à la presse.
Visiblement heureux, l’ex-roi a offert aux photographes des bonbons et du vin. Devenu tsar à l’âge de six ans en 1943, expulsé par les communistes en 1946, il était rentré en Bulgarie en 2001, après 55 ans d’exil surtout en Espagne, pour devenir Premier ministre jusqu’en 2005.
Siméon Hassan n’aura pas de titre de noblesse car son père - l’explorateur espagnol Antonio "Kitin" Munoz Valcarcel, âgé actuellement de 48 ans - est roturier, a précisé la porte-parole de la famille royale Galia Ditcheva.
Le mariage, en octobre 2002 à la station de montagne bulgare de Borovetz (sud-ouest), avait attiré le gotha européen.
"Des relations d’amitié très proches" lient la famille de Siméon II à la famille royale marocaine, et Kalina "connaît bien le Maroc en raison de ses nombreuses visites depuis son enfance", a expliqué une autre porte-parole, Tzvetelina Ouzounova.
"A ma grande joie, j’ai pu réaliser mon rêve que mon premier enfant naisse ici" en Bulgarie, a encore affirmé la mère, qui réside normalement à Madrid.
Edité le: mardi 27 mars 2007. |
25 mars 2007
Bulgarian Princess's Son Gets Hassan Added to Name in Honour of Moroccan King
 The happy parents with their first child, baby Simeon III Hassan. Photo by Yuliana Nikolova (Sofia Photo Agency) | buy photo | |
Bulgaria's Princess Kalina made a surprising announcement on Friday for the media, saying her newborn baby, named after her father Simeon will have Hassan added to the name.
So now the baby, who was born on March 14 in the Lozenets University Hospital will carry the name Simeon III Hassan.
The first son of Kitin Munoz will have Hassan added in honour to the late king of Morocco, Kalina said.
This was little Simeon Hassan's first media appearance on which only photo reporters were allowed to see him and make picture of Kalina and the baby.
Princess Kalina and her newborn son Simeon III left the Lozenets University Hospital in the afternoon hours of Wednesday.
Kalina and baby Simeon left the institution in 1:50 p.m. in good health, but they got on a limo right away, as the royal family still doesn't want to show the infant to the public.
Simeon III, who is Bulgaria's former PM and exiled King Simeon II 12th grandchild, was born on March 14 with a Caesarean. The baby came to the world weighing 2,625.
The father, famous Spanish adventurer Kitin Munoz spent all his time in the hospital with his little man and his beloved mother.
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=78318
15 mars 2007
Royal baby in Bulgaria symbol of former king's national allegiance
Princess Kalina, daughter of Bulgaria's once exiled king, gave birth to her first baby on Wednesday, giving the country its first royal birth in 70 years in what observers called a symbolic show of allegiance to the Balkan state.
"It was so nice of her to give birth in Bulgaria," the visibly moved grandfather, Simeon Saxe Coburg, a once exiled king and former prime minister, told journalists outside the Sofia hospital.
The baby boy, who weighed 2.6 kilogrammes (5.7 pounds), is the first royalty born in Bulgaria since the birth of the former monarch himself in 1937.
He is also to be called Simeon, the family announced.
The 35-year-old princess's choice of birthplace and name for the baby was widely viewed as a show of support by the family to Bulgaria.
Kalina and her Spanish husband, 48-year-old explorer Anonio "Kitin" Munoz Valcarcel, live in Madrid, while her father resettled in Bulgaria in 2001 and served four years as prime minister.
"This is a very clear message on the part of Simeon and his family that they feel attached to Bulgaria," political analyst Kolyo Kolev of the Mediana agency told AFP.
"Simeon has always said he has no intention of leaving Bulgaria, where he so much longed to return during the more than 50 years of exile. By giving birth to her first child in Bulgaria, Kalina proves her love for her father and her emotional attachment to his homeland," Gallup analyst Andrey Raychev added.
When asked whom the baby looked like, the former king joked that "like every baby, he is all wrinkled and red-cheeked."
The previously exiled monarch, whose five children were all born and brought up in Spain, has 10 other grandchildren from Kalina's four older brothers, but they were all born abroad and none has been named after him.
The family is planning "many surprises" to celebrate the baby's birth, including small gifts to every baby born in Sofia on Wednesday, family spokeswoman Galya Dicheva told AFP.
The celebrations are however unlikely to measure up to the nationwide festivities that followed Saxe Coburg's birth. All students in the country saw their final marks raised by one grade, thousands of political prisoners were granted amnesty, army officers were decorated and a three-day holiday was decreed.
The former Bulgarian monarch, a relative of British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, and Belgium's King Albert, ascended to the throne as King Simeon II at the age of six in 1943 after his father, King Boris III, mysteriously died.
The boy king was driven out of Bulgaria three years later when the communists held a referendum and declared the country a republic.
He settled in Spain and only returned to Bulgaria until 1996 after the country was plunged into political and economic turmoil. Hundreds of thousands of people flocked in the streets to greet the expatriate.
He settled in Bulgaria in 2001 after becoming the first former European monarch to be elected prime minister, a position he held until 2005.
Princess Kalina and her husband were married in Bulgaria in October 2002. They sent special congratulatory cards to all 333 Bulgarian couples who tied the knot on the same day.