A petition against the installation of 43 wind turbines near Silistra, as part of a local citizens’ initiative under the Law on Direct Participation of Citizens in State and Local Government, was submitted to the Municipal Council and the Municipality of Silistra.
Through the local citizens’ initiative, citizens can make proposals to the municipal council, the mayor of the municipality, the district or the mayor’s office, or to provincial or regional executive authorities for the resolution of issues of local importance.
As already reported by “Za Istinata,” the collection of signatures went hand in hand with public discussion of the project, in which the mayor of the municipality where the wind turbines will be installed is also participating.
The petition was organized by the initiative committee “Aydemir for the Protection of His Land,” which is backed by activists from the “Velichie” party. The submission of the documents with the signatures of 2,091 citizens was presented in a video posted on Facebook by the chair of the committee, Radka Ivanova, lawyer Ventsislav Marinov, and the regional coordinator of the Velichie party, Kosara Ivanova. The documents themselves were compiled in the party’s office before being submitted.
The petition contains a proposal to take a decision to abandon the Silistra Wind Farm project.
Two competing groups are fighting against the implementation of the project
However, at the same time as the petition was submitted, it became clear that several complaints had been filed against it. One complaint was filed with the Silistra prosecutor’s office and two with the Commission for Personal Data Protection (CPDP).
Surprisingly, it turns out that the complaints to the prosecutor’s office and the CPDP were filed by other members of the initiative committee that organized the petition, which consists of ten people in total. They were organized by Stoyan Georgiev, a former member of parliament from the “We Continue the Change” party and former regional coordinator of the “Velichie” party, thanks to whom they are in the initiative committee he created in 2024. A separate complaint to the Personal Data Protection Commission was also sent by Milena Pavlova, also a former regional coordinator of the Velichie party.
In May last year, Velichie announced that it was replacing regional coordinator Stoyan Georgiev, who was also the founder of the party’s local structure. He was replaced by Milena Pavlova, who in turn was replaced by the current regional coordinator Kosara Ivanova. This led to the formation of two competing groups fighting against the implementation of the project.
According to Stoyan Georgiev, who commented on his actions on Facebook, the petition was physically stolen and submitted to the municipality by unauthorized persons — referring to Chairwoman Radka Ivanova and the current coordinator — instead of being submitted to the Regional Inspectorate of Environment and Water Resources in Ruse, where the fate of the wind turbine project is actually being decided.
“The complaints to the Prosecutor’s Office and the CPDP were filed by us in order to protect the citizens. It is unacceptable for the personal data of thousands of people to be distributed by party coordinators and used for purposes other than protecting our land,” he said.
Specifically, the complaints allege that the initiative committee did not hold a meeting and did not take a valid decision to form a citizens’ initiative, as required by law, and that the chair of the initiative committee, Radka Ivanova, organized the collection of signatures without a proper decision and outside her powers. It is also alleged that personal data was unlawfully collected, processed, and provided in connection with the petition, as personal data was processed by people associated with the structures of the Velichie party—both local and national—in violation of the European Union’s personal data regulation.
According to the former coordinators, the personal data of the signatories was shared and published in public groups associated with the Velichie party, to which they had access and oversight.
Lawyer Marinov commented to Za Istinata that all legal requirements had been met and that the persons processing personal data had legal grounds to do so and had completed the relevant declarations.
The petition was also presented for information to the municipal councilors at the meeting of the Silistra Municipal Council committees on January 27. An inspection is currently being carried out in the municipality’s Civil Registry Department, after which the municipal councilors must announce a decision on the proposal within one month. At the meetings, some of the councilors also expressed doubts that the necessary decisions had been presented to the initiative committee in order for the initiative to be carried out in accordance with the law.
The institutions to which the complaints of violations have been referred are also expected to issue a ruling.
