“… I can’t help but notice that our neoliberal press made photo montages of Denkov’s speech to the EP, where the whole hall was packed and listened very carefully to his ramblings,” a post on a pro-Kremlin Telegram channel reads, sharing the Bulgarian government’s photo of Denkov in front of a full house. It also shares another picture showing it almost empty and a YouTube video from the session, claiming that the footage “clearly shows that there are 15 people in the hall” and no more.
Since November 22, 2023, the post has been viewed over 3,300 times. The same text and photos were also posted on other Telegram channels and Facebook.
After his speech in Strasbourg, which delivered a clear anti-Kremlin and pro-EU message, his critics targeted Denkov, and the almost empty parliamentary chamber was one of their main points. These critics include far-right politician Kostadin Kostadinov, but also Assim Ademov, an MEP from the conservative GERB party.
However, the photo shared by the government’s press office was not doctored. Those social media claims are false.
Denkov at the EP
On November 22, 2023, Nikolay Denkov took part in an event entitled “This is Europe”.
The EP website describes “This is Europe” as events featuring EU heads of state and government with “exchanges and discussions focus[ing] on EU actions”.
AFP reviewed the stream (archived here) from the session featuring the Bulgarian PM to find out what happened in the EP chamber in Strasbourg. At 10:50 (which corresponds to the time of day), Denkov enters the chamber alongside EP President, Roberta Metsola, who presents him. At 10:53, the Bulgarian PM takes the floor and speaks for the next 22 minutes with cameras showing the relatively empty parliament a couple of times:
Over the next 50 minutes, different MEPs make their speeches, with Bulgarian MEP Ivo Hristov the last to speak. As we can see during his speech, the chamber is already full of deputies:
Taken on November 23, 2023
After 12:09, Denkov retakes the floor for final remarks, and Metsola asks for silence. From the various camera angles, we see that the chamber is now full of people:
Taken on November 23, 2023
Taken on November 23, 2023
The photo used in the social media post was sent, along with several others, by Bulgaria’s government information service (GIS) with a press release about Denkov’s speech in Strasbourg. AFP found the photo and press release on the government’s website and contacted GIS to get more information about their decision to use the picture.
A comparison of a still shot from the stream from this part of the session and the photo sent by GIS gives many matches which confirm that the latter depicts the same event and was not doctored to add audience:
Here’s another comparison using a photo made by photographer Fred Marvaux and published by the EP’s press service:
Contacted by AFP, GIS replied by email on November 23, 2023 that the government photographer took their photo. As for why the press service decided to use a photo from Denkov’s final remarks, GIS replied: “It was taken at the time of the Prime Minister’s closing speech to MEPs, and the relevant press release refers to that part of the Prime Minister’s words.”
The government’s press release does in fact start with a quote from Denkov’s closing remarks regarding the rule of law.
Similar dynamics during other EP speeches
According to the EP’s session schedule for November 22, voting had been scheduled for 12pm. At that time, Denkov was still speaking.
“The photo was taken at the end of the discussion when the room was full,” Bulgarian MEP Radan Kanev (his party, DSB, supports Denkov’s government), who was present during the session, told AFP on November 23, 2023. He added that having a full room in the final part of the discussion was common.
“During the big opening speech of the Bulgarian prime minister, the hall was empty, except for the praesidium, the Bulgarian MEPs and several MEPs, representatives of different political groups,” Elena Yoncheva, another Bulgarian MEP (her party, BSP, does not support Denkov’s government) present during the discussion, told AFP through her press office on November 23, 2023. “It must be said, however, that when prime ministers speak, the Chamber of the European Parliament is almost never full,” she said, adding that “at 12 o’clock, all MEPs entered the Chamber for the vote, which coincided with the Prime Minister’s closing speech”.
To see if what happened during Denkov’s speech was unusual, AFP also consulted sessions with other leaders from the “This is Europe” debates.
On May 9, 2023, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz took part in the debates. As we can see from the still shots, there are fewer people at the beginning of the debate than during Scholz’s closing remarks. According to the EP’s May 9, 2023 agenda, voting was scheduled for 12:00, but Scholz’s speech continued until 12:19.
On April 19, 2023, Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel addressed MEPs. Again, there was voting scheduled for 12:00, and Bettel was still wrapping up his closing remarks at that time, meaning that he too started in front of a relatively empty parliament and finished among a much fuller house.
Similar dynamics can be observed with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s speech on July 5, 2022 (again, votes were scheduled for 12:00, just after his speech):
— or Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda on March 14, 2023 (with voting scheduled at 12:00 following the debate):
Similarly, the MEPs entered the chamber when Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob made his final remarks during the “This is Europe” debate on December 13, 2022. “Madam President, dear Members of the Parliament, I’m glad to be here again now. I have a bigger audience now. You obviously enjoyed my previous speech so much, you came to listen, all of you,” he said. This “This is Europe” debate with Golob was again scheduled from 10:30 to 12:00, with votes scheduled for just after.
“It is customary to have these debates in prominent place on the agenda but there is no fixed slot,” Emilie Tournier , a press officer for the EP, told AFP in an email received on November 24, 2023.
She gave as an example “the debate in the mini-plenary in Brussels with Croatia’s Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic”. This debate took place in Brussels in the afternoon of June 22, 2022, and there was no voting scheduled after it. The hall was not full at the beginning of his intervention or at its end.
“Members of the European Parliaments (MEPs) organise the exercise of their free mandate themselves, their presence in the hemicycle can vary as they might have concurring activities in parallel to the plenary debates,” Tournier said, adding that “during the debate [with Denkov, ed.] all representation of the groups/political family were present”.
Regarding the influx of MEPs after 12:00, Tournier commented that “members are invited to be present for the voting session that starts around 11.30 or 12.00 depending on the agenda approved by the plenary”.
Rossen Bossev
AFP Bulgaria
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