How much longer will we allow the people from whom we expect the greatest responsibility for their words and actions to get away with it precisely because they are in power?
Being Speaker of the National Assembly carries an obligation to set an example. To uphold the dignity of the institution, observe the rules and show respect for people. Yet we seem to have lowered our expectations to the point where we are grateful if they at least refrain from insulting us.
What happened to Sonya Koltuklieva confronts us with that humiliatingly low bar once again.
We walk past and leave. That is the impression this scene leaves: a person is on the ground, while the car carrying those in power drives on.
I am ashamed that people who behave this way represent me. I am ashamed that they serve as examples to our children. How are we to teach children to help someone who has fallen, admit their mistakes and face the consequences when they see responsibility being passed from one office to another?
Yes, Mihaela Dotsova later expressed regret and sought a meeting with the journalist. That must be acknowledged. But regret does not exhaust responsibility. Nor does the explanation that the security detail follows its own protocols answer the question about the human response of those it protects.
I do not expect the Speaker of Parliament to command a security operation. I expect the holder of that office to understand what it means for someone to be injured beside their official car. And to face the public with a clear position on their own conduct.
President Iliana Iotova condemned what happened and said she would seek the resignation of the head of the National Service for Protection. Good. But it will not be enough if responsibility once again stops with someone further down the hierarchy.
Holding a leadership position cannot mean representing the institution when it succeeds and pointing to your team when it fails. There are committees, chiefs and protocols. But there are also people who make decisions and must personally stand behind them. That applies to security, to pardons and to every other exercise of power.
And here is the question for Prime Minister Rumen Radev. As a military officer, as a general, as someone expected to understand a leader's responsibility: what is your assessment? Will you call on Mihaela Dotsova to resign? Will you insist on political accountability, or will we hear yet another excuse?
What example are you setting when you demand the public's trust, but responsibility in a crisis always turns out to belong to someone else?
How much longer will we be governed by people for whom admitting “I was wrong” and taking responsibility is more frightening than losing a position that brings power and money?
And how much longer will we keep walking past — while they drive away?
Sources for the factual background
BTA — the incident and the statements by Dotsova and the protection service · 23.10.2026
bTV — Iliana Iotova’s statement seeking the resignation of the protection service chief · 23.10.2026
Opinion. The assessments and questions express the author’s position. The Bulgarian original is published without editorial changes; the English version is an AI-assisted translation.
