Does the newly formed Bulgarian government declare it will ban agriculture and prohibit livestock farming in order to meet climate goals? No, that's not true: Bulgarian and European Commission officials met this month and announced that agricultural funds for Bulgaria for the period until 2027 will remain unchanged, and the newly formed Bulgarian government announced that a priority during its term will be to fund small and medium-sized agriculture and livestock producers.
The claim appeared in a video on TikTok (archived here) published by @sneii_levski on June 1, with a caption (translated to English by Lead Stories) that reads:
The Denko-Gabriel cabinet is preparing to ban and destroy Bulgarian agriculture! From July, it will be forbidden to watch farm birds in the yards! Having cows, pigs, and any livestock will be prohibited! Globalists think that this is how they save the planet!
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Tue Jun 20 09:51:09 2023 UTC)
There is no evidence to support such claims, and no official publications or announcements have been made. A search for the phrase " Кабинета Денко-Габриел готви да забрани и да унищожи селското стопанство!" (The Denko-Gabriel cabinet is preparing to ban and destroy agriculture!) using Google News' index of thousands of credible news sites did not return any results from independent and credible news outlets.
Claims with similar or identical text as the one in the TikTok video began circulating on social media as early as June 1, and have been promoted by at least one Bulgarian website that started operation around the end of May 2023. It published an article containing a digitally altered government document to "prove" similar claims.
The online site and known purveyors of misinformation have increased false claims about the new government since it became clear that the new cabinet, inaugurated on June 6, would be pro-European and pro-NATO.
The article also alleged the EU was responsible for the Bulgarian government's decision to ban agriculture, a claim that is contradicted by the fact that the EU allocates significant funds for the development of the agricultural regions in the member countries, and every year has provided substantial financial aid for the development of Bulgarian agriculture through various programs.
The issues of agriculture, greenhouse gas emissions, and climate goals are under discussion, as EU member states consider changes to reduce emissions of harmful greenhouse gases in order to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 within the EU. The European Green Package, "Fit for 55", envisages a reduction of harmful EU emissions by at least 55% by 2030 and this is expected to affect a number of agricultural sectors.
The proposal in the prepared EU drafts envisages that farms with more than 150 animals will be covered by restrictions regarding the discharge of waste and polluting gases. EU member states consider the proposal unrealistic. They insist that the measures only affect farms with more than 350 animals.
