CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY – CORPORATE BRANDING RELATIONSHIP: AN EMPIRICAL COMPARATIVE STUDY

Current academic research on the relationship of firms’ CSR activities with corporate branding typically focuses on consumers’ and shareholders’ viewpoints. This research aims to shed light on how organisational members in firms perceive to be the impact of CSR activities upon their corporate brand strategy. Using a survey administered to companies in the U.K. and Bulgaria, the author investigate, firstly, organisational members’ perceptions of the impact of different CSR-related activities upon corporate branding and, secondly, their beliefs about what customers and shareholders think are the impacts of CSR-related activities upon brand image and brand identity. The findings indicated that while organisational members rated quality products, customer service and corporate governance highly as key components of CSR activity, they were much more ambivalent about their companies' commitment to broader actions which involve the 'community' and 'society'. This paper concludes by discussing the implications of the findings for future 'CSR education' among companies.Corporate social responsibility, corporate branding, brand image

At a snail’s pace: How EU bureaucracy undermines fundamental rights

The EU Commission has recently launched an infringement procedure against Bulgaria in view of its breaches of Directive 2016/343 on the presumption of innocence and on grounds I have been raising in formal complaints to EU institutions since 2018. My 5-year long disillusioning experience of raising concerns about Bulgaria's deliberate breaches of EU law before the EU Parliament and the EU Commission may serve as a case study providing some food for thought about the value of fundamental rights in the eyes of these EU institutions, as well as their handling of reasoned citizen complaints

Short but sweet: Bulgaria's short-lived 45th National Assembly as a first step towards reforms

On 11 May 2021, Bulgaria’s President Rumen Radev issued a decree appointing a caretaker government, which means that the dissolution of the 45th National Assembly is imminent. This National Assembly, which was first convened on 15 April 2021, was rather short-lived, but it paved the way to fairer elections and much needed reforms in the justice system which civil society demands. If the next National Assembly, which will be elected in July 2021, takes the meaningful Bills which were proposed in the 45th Parliament on board, the slow process of dismantling the autocracy built by Boyko Borissov will start. Unsurprisingly, the defenders of the status quo are trying to resist these necessary changes, going as far as misleading the institutions of the EU and the Council of Europ

Extradition to Russia from an EU member state: judicial incompetence, political bias, or just another sign of rule of law decay?

On 8 August 2022, a Bulgarian Regional Court, acting as a first instance, allowed the extradition of Alexey Alchin, a Russian national who burned his passport at an anti-war protest, to Russia upon the request of the Russian Prosecutor’s Office. Whereas the decision by the Varna Regional Court is not final and subject to appeal, it merits unpacking because of its implications. The Chair of the Bulgaria Helsinki Committee, Krassimir Kanev, has already deemed that the court has shown ‘intolerable bias’ and an interest in ‘pleasing’ the Russian government. However, one may also ponder if the decision does not reveal a much deeper problem within Bulgaria’s justice system. On the one hand, one may suspect Russian meddling behind the scenes because of Bulgaria’s Prosecutor’s Office unhealthy relationship with Russia’s Prosecutor’s Office. On the other hand, the cherry-picking of applicable provisions, in which the court has engaged, serves as yet another red flag about the deplorable state of Bulgaria’s rule of law

Impunity: the unbearable difficulty of dismissing a General Prosecutor for abuses of office and other crimes

The procedural tricks to which Bulgaria's Supreme Judicial Council has resorted to avoid examining two requests for the dismissal of General Prosecutor Ivan Geshev for omissions and actions which undermine the prestige of the judiciary provide further proof that this institution is one of the main reasons why a sitting General Prosecutor of Bulgaria can abuse his office and commit crimes with impunity

Bulgaria’s media jungle: the good, the bad and the ugly

The media landscape in Bulgaria seems grim at the moment – oversaturated with tabloids and politically-slanted, oligarchic-owned outlets. The few independent and professional journalists face harassment and prosecution. Boyko Borissov’s recent fall from power gives some hope that things may change in the long run. However, there are a few caveats

Framing and raiding: Bulgaria’s Kafkaesque Prosecutor’s Office

In early June 2021, Bulgaria’s Prosecutor’s Office raided the Ministry of Interior and raised charges against a senior employee. According to the Minister of Interior Boyko Rashkov, the goal of the Prosecutor’s Office is to sabotage an inquiry into illegal wiretapping. The senior employee who was charged indeed participated in the inquiry. A similar raid against the Bulgarian Presidency in July 2020 during which two of the President’s advisors were arrested sparked mass protests demanding the resignation of both Borissov’s government and General Prosecutor Ivan Geshev which lasted for months. Bulgaria’s Prosecutor’s Office is a Kafkaesque institution rather than a mere threat against the rule of law. Its crushing yet unrestrained authority is used as a weapon against the opponents of the status quo and a laundry detergent for corrupt politicians

Snap elections in Bulgaria: who is ready for political suicide?

While the GERB party was weakened further in the July snap elections in Bulgaria, dismantling the structures it left behind will require the coming together of civil society and remaining political forces