We should not place the responsibility for dual-quality products entirely on the European institutions because they are only one of the instruments to counter such practices. The inactivity of national regulators, which are paid by taxpayers to monitor possible deviations from the norm, are one significant cause for this conflict. People in the west have already gone through this, but we seem intent on repeating their mistakes. We are obviously not learning from other people's experiences. So, to a certain extent, dual-quality products are of our own making, says Bogomil Nikolov, Executive Director of Active Consumers.

What is most concerning is that the Brexit date is looming once again and we still do not know if the rights of EU citizens will be guaranteed. Against this backdrop, France has come out and said it would veto another Brexit delay if the UK government did not provide a sound reason for it, thus pouring kerosene on the already blazing fire, said Ilhan Kyuchyuk, MEP (MRF/RE) and ALDE Party Vice-President, in an interview to Europost.

None of the sides are prepared for 'no deal'. So now British citizens in the European Union can only base their hope on some promises, like those from the prime ministers of Belgium and Portugal, for example. The situation of the more than three million European citizens in the UK is also uncertain. Nevertheless, I do think this will be sorted very quickly as a priority in case of 'no deal', says Pieter Cleppe, Head of Open Europe Brussels office, in an interview to Europost.

The first F-16 fighter planes for the Bulgarian Air Force, out of the eight new aircrafts agreed under contracts signed with the US, are scheduled to arrive in Bulgaria in early 2023, James Robinson, International Business Development Senior Manager at the aircraft-maker Lockheed Martin, said in an interview for Monitor News Agency. Earlier, he and US Chargé d'Affaires in Bulgaria Justin Friedman commented on the deal during a Sofia press conference.

The realisation that someone is watching you on the internet is an alarming one but true nevertheless, says prof. Galya Angelova in an interview to Monitor.

Macro-regional strategies can make not only the towns and cities to prosper, but the remote area as well. The roles of stakeholders and the implementation rules have to be clearly laid down, and the communication on macro-regional strategies has to be brought up to date, Dimitris Dimitriadis, member of the EESC Employers' Group, says in an interview to Europost.

Gender is a very important topic now, and as the new Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen will have to find a 50:50 balance while choosing the Commissioners. I think this time the public eye on this will be stronger than it has ever been, and that is a good development, says Sophia Russack, Researcher at the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels, in an interview to Europost.

During its Council Presidency Finland is trying to follow the same policy that Bulgaria so skilfully followed in 2018 - to be a Presidency that is an ''honest broker'' and tries to find best solutions and compromises for all the Member States. For Finland, as part of the Nordic family, promoting equality and fairness is a key priority, says Paivi Blinnikka, Ambassador of Finland to Bulgaria in an interview to Europost.

The whole idea of lead candidates put forward by political parties no longer seems suitable to us. We are looking for more clear-cut consensus figures that can ensure the formation of coalitions and facilitate the pursuit of policies promoting a strong and united Europe, says Iskra Mihaylova, MEP, Vice-President of the Renew Europe group in the European Parliament, in an interview to Europost. 

My hope is that the solution will be a second referendum. That finally politicians on both sides will understand that the only way out is to ask the British voters again, after three years of heated debate and with much more information available: “Do you still want to leave the European Union?” or “Do you want to think again and perhaps stay?”, says Giles Merritt, Founder and Chairman of Friends of Europe, in an interview to Europost.