Maxim Behar appeared on “The Ku-Ku Band Night,” where he spoke with Kamen Vodenicharov about music, journalism, the PR business, technology and promoting Bulgaria. During the conversation, he also talked about his music projects, his training at NASA, his professional journey and the importance of big dreams, freedom and love.

Host: Good evening, dear viewers. I am very happy that we are together. You are watching “The Ku-Ku Band Night.”

Dear friends, tonight our guest is a man whose life proves that boundaries exist only in our minds. He is the only Eastern European inducted into the World PR Hall of Fame in London.

He has been a journalist, diplomat and adviser. He has received numerous awards, including Best PR Professional in Europe. He has written some of the bestselling books on business, leadership and even cooking.

But above all, he is a dreamer who does not simply look at the stars, but literally went through an intensive training course at NASA.

Dear viewers, it is a true pleasure for me to introduce Maxim Behar.

Maxim Behar: Good evening.

Host: I am glad to see you.

Maxim Behar: I am very happy to see you too.

Host: Welcome. You know that here, in our studio, you are always not a guest, but at home.

Maxim Behar: I am already at home, that is a fact.

Host: Exactly.

I would really like to ask you about everything I mentioned in the introduction. But since this is “The Ku-Ku Band Night,” let us start with a question like this.

What is music to you?

Maxim Behar: Like everyone from my generation, we grew up with music that we listened to on shortwave radio, such as Radio Luxembourg, BBC, Voice of America and many others. And all of this was incredibly exciting.

Do you know why we listened to so much music in those years?

On the one hand, yes, it was interesting, although we had “Shturtsite” here, we had “Signal.”

I myself played in a band called “Salzite,” and Dancho Karadzhov from “Signal” remembers it very well. They used to come every Friday to the club in Pavlovo to watch “Salzite,” and on Saturdays we would go to watch “Bandaratsite” at the Ovcha Kupel hall.

But those are stories.

When I think about it now, so many years later, why did we listen to that music so persistently, with so much energy and involvement, when it was on shortwave radio, secretly, and not everything could be heard on Bulgarian radio stations?

Back then, I had the feeling that when you listened to good music, when you listened to The Beatles, Alice Cooper, Deep Purple, this world that we had never seen entered my little room in the Buxton neighbourhood.

That whole world, which was wonderful and about which so many beautiful things were sung, with such beautiful rhythms, made it feel as though we were suddenly going to the West without even realizing it.

Host: In other words, thanks to music, your imagination somehow helped you transport yourself to all sorts of different places.

Maxim Behar: I did not understand that at the time.

But now, looking back, I realize that we all know that back then we could not simply go to the West, watch and listen to concerts, as we do every year now.

But through music, somehow, we entered that world. And it was wonderful.

So I grew up with this music and, for me, it is simply part of life.

I make songs quite often. They get quite a lot of views, especially on YouTube. I hope that later in this wonderful show we will play one of them.

“Viva Bulgaria” has more than half a million views on YouTube.

When someone tells me, “You make music,” I say, “Wait a minute. I do not make music. I do marketing.”

I do marketing. I send messages through music.

You are musicians, of course. You are the best. I simply try to send messages through music.

Host: All right, let me pick up on what you just said. In recent years, does marketing not help enormously, when it is done well, the creators of what we now call creative content?

Maxim Behar: Yes.

Personally, I think that between 10 and 20 percent is having a musical sense, and of course you need to have a voice.

But everything else is marketing.

How are you going to sell it? How are you going to package it? What are you going to say?

The global market is currently flooded with music. Tons of it. Millions of tons.

You go into AI and it tells you: “Give me three seconds of your voice and I will make you great music that will be number one in the charts.”

That is why, in my opinion, the marketing messages you put into these songs are much more important.

Why, for example, did hundreds of thousands of people gather in stadiums for the concerts of our friends from “The Ku-Ku Band”?

Because those songs had messages.

Host: Messages from truly golden times, with a lot of meaning, sometimes with irony and satire, especially in the early years.

Later, of course, they developed tremendously and demonstrated exceptional skill both in composing and in writing lyrics.

Maxim Behar: I do not know anyone to whom you could say, “Let me play you a song,” and they would reply, “I do not care about music. Mind your own business. You are not going to play me any songs.”

I do not know such a person.

Host: And in early childhood, who shapes your musical taste?

Let us go back to those years. What kind of child was little Maxi?

Maxim Behar: I was not a very obedient child.

I wandered around the streets and played in the neighbourhood garden, like all of us, of course.

And somehow information passed from person to person: “Did you hear? The Beatles have a new song. The Stones have done something new.”

That music was passed around among us and we liked it very much because it was unfamiliar and sounded wonderful.

But I was not particularly obedient.

I read a tremendous amount. And to this day, I continue to read a lot.

I was very young, around 12 or 13 years old, when one evening my father called me into the little kitchen in the Buxton neighbourhood. He was sitting on a stool, I was standing, and that put us eye to eye.

He said to me: “Maxim, you cannot just wander around anymore. Go and work.”

I was thirteen and a half.

I asked him: “Where should I work?”

He said: “I have a friend at the Serdika factory. They might take you on as a carpenter.”

And that is how I ended up at the Serdika factory as a carpenter.

That was my first job, when I was thirteen and a half years old.

I have worked continuously ever since.

Even when I was studying in Prague, I was studying at two universities at the same time, the University of Economics and Charles University, both very prestigious universities, and I worked all day in a newsroom.

I wrote.

And on Saturdays and Sundays, I swept the streets.

Host: Why?

Maxim Behar: To earn some money.

And it was a great pleasure.

I think that when a person works, it somehow keeps them sharp, makes them better and allows them to see the results of what they do.

It does not matter whether you are sweeping streets or driving a car.

My friend Misho Shamara drives an Uber in Chicago.

Host: Yes, we see his posts on YouTube and Facebook. They are quite emotional.

Maxim Behar: Sometimes he uses pretty harsh language, which irritates many people, but his music is like that as well.

But in any case, he drives an Uber.

And he understands many other things too.

There is absolutely no problem with what kind of work you do. The important thing is to do it with pleasure, for it to bring you satisfaction and somehow make time pass quickly.

Host: And do different jobs and different environments help shape musical taste?

I am asking because I assume it was one thing in the carpentry workshop you mentioned and another thing in Prague.

Does the environment influence taste?

Maxim Behar: In my opinion, no.

It depends more on what kind of person you are.

Maybe it is your upbringing at home, maybe it is what your mother and father listen to. Although my parents did not really listen to much music at home.

It depends on who you are and what kind of company you find yourself in.

I doubt that your job, unless you are a musician, can shape your musical taste.

The music you listen to is who you are.

Host: It is your mirror.

Maxim Behar: If you listen to hard rock, you are probably a hard rocker in life as well.

You make tough decisions. You are uncompromising.

Host: Ultimately, the music you listen to builds you and shapes your character and your world.

Maxim Behar: The music you listen to is your mirror. It is your character.

Host: Tell us a little about the time when you decided to become a journalist.

Maxim Behar: I think that even back in that carpentry workshop, I wanted to do something that would allow me to report, analyse, tell stories, opinions or points of view, and have people listen to them.

When I found myself working in a newsroom in Prague, for a magazine with a circulation of around one million, I happened to sit down for coffee in a café.

The person next to me asked: “Is this seat free?”

Back then, it was normal for people to sit at an empty seat at someone else’s table.

He sat down and noticed that I did not speak the language very well.

He asked me: “Where are you from?”

I had just arrived in Prague.

I said: “Bulgaria.”

This was in 1981, when Bulgaria was celebrating 1,300 years since its establishment in 681.

There were huge celebrations.

He told me: “I run a very large magazine and I want someone to write an article for me about Bulgaria and the fact that you are celebrating 1,300 years.”

And that is how I ended up at that magazine.

I started learning, I started writing, and it gave me tremendous pleasure.

Then I returned to Bulgaria and started working for newspapers.

One day, a man called me on the landline. There were no mobile phones then.

He said: “Good evening. My name is Krasimir Stoychev. Is this Maxim Behar?”

I said: “Yes, Maxim Behar.”

And he said: “I am planning to finance the creation of a new newspaper. Would you agree to be part of my team?”

We are talking about Standart newspaper, and that is how I started working there.

That was actually my last job as a journalist, after which I decided that I wanted to try something new.

I do not even use the expression “something of my own,” because the work of a manager, and today I have a large company, companies with many people, is still not something I would describe as “mine.”

These are my colleagues.

I have responsibilities, they have responsibilities.

That is how I got into journalism, and it was incredibly interesting.

Wonderful years.

Maxim Behar: I am sure some of the viewers remember Standart newspaper. For its time, it was a very good media outlet.

We tried to maintain good, intelligent language.

We tried not to be aggressive, but to explain things calmly.

That is history now, but it is part of me.

Host: And the other universities, the other degrees, Seattle, London?

Maxim Behar: They are also part of my life.

Two years ago, when I was doing my doctorate at Sofia University, many people asked me: “Max, why do you need this doctorate?”

And I replied: “You know, it helped me tremendously because I read around 150 books in order to write my dissertation. Otherwise, I would never have read those books.”

It was a powerful motivation for a person to go much deeper and into much greater detail in something that interests them.

You should never stop learning.

Never.

Many of my colleagues know that I get up at 7:01 every morning.

Host: Why 01?

Maxim Behar: The reason is simple. Because I want to be number one.

Host: Wonderful. You have always been number one in everything you have taken on.

Maxim Behar: Sometimes, of course, I fall asleep again for a little while.

But when I get up, I make myself a coffee and start reading.

I read the interesting things that happened in my business the day before because my business is extremely dynamic.

Music is a little different.

You can create a composition, a song or a piece of music and it can still be relevant 20 years later.

Whereas my business, the media, is constantly changing.

Host: Let me ask you about public relations, as we are used to calling it in Bulgaria.

Maxim Behar: Yes.

The Bulgarian translation “relations with the public” is a rather funny translation, even lexically.

But it does not matter.

In Bulgarian, I think the closest term would be “public communications.”

We deal with communications and when we do them publicly for our clients or partners, that is probably the closest translation.

But it does not matter.

The term has already become established.

Even in German, for example, they use public relations as an English expression.

Just like “marketing.” In Bulgarian, we say “marketing.”

It is a very interesting business. A wonderful business.

When I started, it had so many levels, so many opportunities to do things for your clients in so many different directions.

Host: And what is important in this communication?

Maxim Behar: I have always said that for our business, and perhaps not only ours, the rule of the three S’s is important. I came up with it around 20 years ago.

And the more time passes, the more convinced I become that it works.

The three S’s are: Speed, Simplicity, Self-confidence.

Speed, simplicity and self-confidence.

Speed.

It is extremely important how quickly you reply to emails, how quickly you make decisions, how quickly you communicate with your colleagues and partners.

No one is going to wait a day for you to check your email and reply.

In the meantime, another thousand messages have arrived.

Simplicity.

You need to have priorities.

What do you do in the morning when you wake up?

You pick up your phone and look at it.

We all do it, everyone here at “The Ku-Ku Band” and everyone else.

You pick up your phone and check: who has written to me? Do I have anything on WhatsApp? Do I have anything on Viber? Has someone sent me a message?

All of this is information.

Millions of pieces of information.

You go into Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter or wherever else, and you read and read and read.

That is why you need priorities.

That is what simplicity actually means.

You tell yourself: “Three things are important to me. I may get everything else done or I may not. I can read it later.”

But you need to know what the three important things are that you have to do today, tomorrow or this week.

Then comes self-confidence.

I do not know anyone who is happy, successful or satisfied if they do not have self-confidence.

It is extremely important to have the confidence that you can do it, that you will do it, that you have to do it, that you can overcome something challenging.

These three S’s are extremely important for every person in order to work well.

Host: Is that also part of the reason why you are the only Eastern European in the World PR Hall of Fame in London?

Maxim Behar: I was president of the global PR organisation.

Even when I was elected, at a large gathering in Milan, I could not believe it.

I kept thinking: “Who am I? Some guy from Bulgaria, and I am president of the global PR organisation.”

I walked out of the hall stunned.

After several very successful years, they invited me to join the World PR Hall of Fame.

That is recognition.

Recognition for me, but also recognition for Bulgaria, of course.

It is extremely important to me that Bulgaria is heard around the world.

That is my greatest concern.

That is my cause.

Twenty-five years ago, together with my partner, former Nevada Governor Bob Miller, we started working on that.

Bob Miller was also a guest on “Slavi’s Show.” I remember he was a very successful guest many years ago.

We started a series of conferences called “Bulgaria, Dream Area.”

I came up with the name because it rhymes, it is easy to remember, and it has a dream in it.

There were also many critics who said: “What Dream Area? Look at the mess here.”

That negativity always appears at some point.

But we organised seven or eight “Bulgaria, Dream Area” events at an extremely high level.

That was in the early 2000s.

At the time, I thought that by 2007 or 2008 Bulgaria really had a chance to start having a much stronger presence both in the news and in people’s minds.

Today, of course, it is present, but it is not where it should be.

Bulgaria continues to be something of a big secret.

Not enough people know that we have the lowest taxes in Europe.

Not enough people know that Bulgaria is full of young, intelligent, wonderful European people.

A few months ago, I told a story on one of your programmes about when my wife and I returned from our NASA training.

On the first day, when we were introducing ourselves, one of the people in charge, an engineer, asked us where we were from.

My wife said: “Bulgaria.”

We expected to start explaining where Bulgaria was, whether it had been part of the Soviet Union and so on.

The engineer said: “Bulgaria? You have fantastic mathematicians. You have incredible engineers. We know you. You are way ahead.”

That gave me tremendous pleasure.

But I still believe that Bulgaria needs to be promoted much more actively abroad, and that is part of our business.

When a young Bulgarian student wins a world Olympiad, when an athlete becomes the best in the world, when we have talented tennis players, volleyball players, when we see Hristo Stoichkov on the pitch, step by step, drop by drop, Bulgaria becomes more recognisable.

Host: I reserve the right to ask you in a moment how this can happen today with all these networks and all this dynamic change.

But let us return to music and to the first song you chose for this musical evening.

It is Leonard Cohen’s “I’m Your Man.”

Why did you choose it for tonight’s show?

Maxim Behar: Tonight I am going to tell two stories that I have never told anywhere before.

One of them is connected to “I’m Your Man.”

Many years ago, quite by chance, I met a girl at a party.

Completely by chance.

It took us literally 15 seconds to meet.

Then we went our separate ways.

Later, I invited her to lunch.

We had lunch and when we got up, everything was already clear.

I left her a flash drive.

A memory stick, a flash drive.

I said: “This is for you.”

There was one song on it.

That song was Leonard Cohen’s “I’m Your Man,” by a man I love very much. I have also been to his concerts.

I left that flash drive with that girl.

And that girl is my wife today.

Host: Dear viewers, sometimes the most beautiful declarations of love are wrapped in the most beautiful music.

Now we are going to enjoy exactly that.

It is my pleasure to present Leonard Cohen’s “I’m Your Man,” performed by my wonderful colleagues from “The Ku-Ku Band.”

[Musical performance: “I’m Your Man”, Leonard Cohen]

Host: Dear viewers, you are watching “The Ku-Ku Band Night,” and today our guest is Maxim Behar.

You have also written many books that have become bestsellers.

I will ask you about your first book as well, but before that, since in a moment we are going to watch a video featuring you and Misho Shamara, whom we already mentioned at the beginning, how did you start working together?

Maxim Behar: Completely by chance.

We already said that Misho is very emotional in his comments.

Someone had attacked him on Facebook.

It was around two in the morning.

I was sitting there, doing something over a glass of wine.

I defended him and wrote something along the lines of: “Leave the man alone. Everyone has the right to an opinion. After all, this is a free medium. Why are you attacking him so much?”

He sent me a private message and said: “My brother, thank you so much. You were the only person who defended me. I owe you.”

I told him: “Misho, what do you mean you owe me? One day we will make a song together.”

Until then, I had never made songs.

After that, he started writing to me from time to time: “I have booked a studio. When are you here? You write the lyrics, get moving, Lil Sha will make the music.”

Eventually, at one point, he wrote to me: “I am arriving on Tuesday morning. At nine o’clock we are at the studio in Ovcha Kupel. I am waiting for you with the lyrics.”

And I thought: “Oh wow, what have we got ourselves into now?”

I had written lyrics in Bulgarian called “PR Is a Gift from God.”

We went into the studio.

Lil Sha was 16 or 17 years old at the time.

I gave him the lyrics and he said: “Max, who is going to listen to these lyrics in Bulgarian? Let us do something in English so that people in America can listen to it too.”

I said: “All right, but wait a minute.”

He asked me: “Tell me, what rhymes with PR?”

And suddenly, out of nowhere, I said: “Behar.”

And that is how the title “PR We Are” was born.

The song starts with “My name is Max Behar…”

He added lyrics, I added lyrics, and we made the song.

Then it was sent to a number of American radio stations.

We played it first on BG Radio.

Suddenly, Hot 21, one of the major R&B and hip-hop radio stations in America, said that they liked the song.

Why?

Because no one before had made a song about PR.

At least that is what ChatGPT and all the research I have done show.

And millions of people around the world work in PR.

Hot 21 liked it and started playing it.

Suddenly there was some Maxim Behar appearing out of nowhere.

Misho and Lil Sha at least live in Chicago.

And that is how it all began.

That was our first production.

After that, we made another five, six, seven songs.

Our latest song is about the Seychelles and is called “We Are Seychelles.”

In it, I sing with a Seychellois woman who lives in Paris, Rita Romain.

She recorded her part in Paris.

I recorded part of mine in the Seychelles and part in Bulgaria.

It was mastered in Chicago.

Like in the movies, one person records on one side of the world and the other on the other side.

Before coming here, I saw that it already had around 750,000 views on YouTube.

And I am still just me.

But that is marketing.

Host: I assume that many of the people working in your companies also support and help with these projects.

I mean the younger generation, fans of R&B music, for example.

Maxim Behar: The younger generation does not listen to that much R&B anymore.

It is more of a remnant of the 1990s, Bulgarian rap, Vanko 1, Misho Shamara and that whole story.

You are part of it and you witnessed it.

My colleagues mainly help me by being the first people to listen to everything we have made.

Host: They are the first listeners and viewers?

Maxim Behar: Yes.

They listen to the songs and say: “No one is going to listen to this.”

And I say: “All right, we are doing it.”

But as I keep saying, for me this is not so much music.

When I wrote “Viva Bulgaria,” I really wanted this song to appear among the results if someone typed “Bulgaria” into Spotify or somewhere else.

And now it does, because it has a lot of listens.

When I made “Viva Bulgaria,” no one believed that this song could somehow “sell” Bulgaria.

Everyone kept asking me: “What are you going to sing about Bulgaria for?”

But in the end, it became a good production and the video turned out very well.

Then my good friend Poli Genova called me and said: “I really like your latest song.”

And I said: “Wait, Poli, I do not make music. I do marketing. To me, these are messages.”

Host: But look at how many valuable lessons you are giving, especially to our viewers who work in music.

They can hear from you an example of how something created as music finds its way.

Maxim Behar: No one can convince me that marketing is not important for Madonna, Pink or any other world-famous performer.

They are great.

They have exceptional qualities.

Veneta and I go to their concerts whenever we can.

But marketing is a huge part of it.

Host: A little earlier you said that you defended Misho Shamara.

I assume I know why he was being attacked, because he is one of our compatriots in the United States who quite openly sympathises with the current president, Donald Trump.

My observations from our tours there are that a large part of the Bulgarian community also sympathises with Donald Trump.

That was the case before as well.

My question is: should artists show their political preferences and feelings, even at the risk of losing part of their audience, or is it better to be more moderate?

What would you advise them?

Maxim Behar: I would not use the verb “should.”

I would say that everyone has the right to an opinion.

For example, Robert De Niro is someone who talks about Trump categorically from morning until night.

In my opinion, it is a matter of personal choice.

If you have an opinion and you want to express it, do it.

You are an artist.

A free person in a free world.

But if it does not concern you that much and you say to yourself: “Wait a minute. Even if I express my opinion, nothing will change. It is better to make a nice, positive song that can provoke good feelings, and when all these people hear it, perhaps they will become a little better.”

There are different ways to express your position.

But if someone is against Trump or supports Trump, or anyone else, let them say it.

We live in a free world.

That is an enormous, enormous advantage that sometimes we do not realise in 2026.

Half of my life was spent in a world that was not quite so free, so perhaps that is why I appreciate it.

God willing, such times will never return.

But if they ever do, then we will understand what freedom means, the ability to express your opinion, and that it is not something to be taken for granted.

It is something we fight for every day.

If you do not want to express your opinion publicly, do not.

But once every four years, go and express it where people vote, through your right to vote.

Host: This shows how important it is, dear viewers, to have a good specialist, a good PR professional who can give you good advice when asked a question.

Maxim Behar: This is not even so much about my PR business.

It is about how a person feels and how they want to participate in the society in which we all live.

We travel on the metro, on trams and buses, we wait in queues, we go to concerts, we sit in restaurants.

If you want to express an opinion, express it.

No one is going to stop you.

Just do not do it aggressively.

Do not insult people.

Do not disturb them.

Express your opinion.

And if you do not want to, make good music, like “The Ku-Ku Band” does.

Host: Let us now go to the song we were talking about.

It is “PR We Are.”

Dear viewers, let us watch the video for the song by our guest Maxim Behar together with Misho Shamara and Lil Sha.

Host: It really is very entertaining.

Maxim Behar: Now it even makes me laugh a little when I watch it because we shot it in a single day.

We recorded everything and I called my colleagues and said: “We are doing something here with Misho Shamara. Can you come with two cameras?”

They came from the office and we shot the video.

When we were finished, I first sent it to a few friends.

One of them, Martin Zahariev, told me: “Max, fix the ending.”

So we added that ending, which cuts off abruptly.

But I wanted there to be a bridge, to have a female voice moving between one part and the other.

One evening, I went to a party at a small bar owned by Vasko Krapkata, behind the Madara baths, a bar called “Krapkata.”

There was a girl there singing in English.

I had something written on my T-shirt.

She came up to me and asked what it meant.

I explained it to her, although I no longer remember exactly what it was.

She said she really liked it.

We started talking.

At some point, she left.

The next morning, I sent her a message on Facebook: “It was very nice meeting you.”

She replied: “It was nice meeting you too.”

I wrote to her: “By the way, you sing very well, even though it looked so effortless.”

She said: “I am a professional singer.”

I said: “You know what? I have a song. Would you like to take part in it?”

At the time, she was at Munich Airport and we were messaging each other.

She was going back to America.

I sent her the song.

She said: “Okay. I am in. Send me everything.”

That was Sarah Harralson.

After that, she also took part in our second song, “Runaway.”

After “Runaway,” she received Grammy nominations as well.

When I invited her to take part in our next song, “Viva Bulgaria,” she told me: “Max, there is no way. I already have publishers, I have a company representing me, and I am not allowed to participate in any other projects.”

Host: That is already another level.

Host: Since this is a music show, I am asking you more about music, but our viewers know you well, so let us not leave out everything else.

You work with tremendous passion and love in many different fields.

Where do you feel most at home?

In economics? In politics? In sport?

What companies have you worked with? Who have you advised?

Maxim Behar: I feel best in communications.

When I talk to people like you.

When I am in the company of the wonderful “Ku-Ku Band.”

When I am out on the street.

When I communicate with clients.

Host: All right, but when we are talking about businesses worth millions.

Maxim Behar: I run a business from morning until night.

But I feel best when I am doing something different.

When I have an innovation.

When I come up with something interesting.

When I say to myself: “I have never done this before.”

Or when I see that my company, which has now existed for more than 30 years, 32 years, has reached a certain level and I want to take it up another floor or half a floor.

I ask myself: “What should I come up with?”

I start reading, watching videos, consulting friends.

And when I achieve something new, then I say to myself: “Wow. It worked. Keep going.”

Host: And do technological innovations help you in that direction?

All this dynamic change that we are immersed in, particularly over the last year and a half or two years?

I am talking mainly about artificial intelligence and the possibility of using enormous amounts of information through it.

Maxim Behar: Before artificial intelligence came social media.

For the first time in history, social media put an interactive medium on the table.

In other words, you speak and they answer you.

You post something and people comment, like it and so on.

And there is something else.

For the first time, social media created a medium that could be measured.

Before that, for example, you had a news story in a newspaper.

You knew approximately how many readers the newspaper had, but who could prove to you who had actually read your story on page nine, at the bottom right?

Now everything can be measured.

With absolute precision.

And that is extremely important.

Then, of course, artificial intelligence arrived, and it is going to completely change our business.

Recently, I sent an email to all my colleagues through our internal email system.

I told them: “Colleagues, relax. Artificial intelligence will not replace you.”

But people who know how to work with artificial intelligence can replace you.

We need to remain calm, but every one of us needs to develop, to change, to learn the latest technologies and the newest things.

Technology is extremely important.

We really cannot do without it anymore.

For example, I do not particularly care what kind of car I drive.

But I do care what kind of phone I have.

Because I use it to reply to emails, work with different software, post on TikTok and Instagram.

I drive a small electric car for two people.

A month or two ago, I was stopped at an intersection.

A large SUV pulled up next to me.

Inside were a beautiful woman and a young tattooed man.

He gestured for me to roll down the window.

I did.

He said: “My wife and I watched you on television yesterday.”

I said: “Thank you.”

And he said: “Why are you driving that car? Do you not have money for a bigger, nicer one?”

I replied: “Well, you see, that is how much they pay on television.”

Of course, it is a joke, although the story itself is true.

But the car is not important.

The phone and technology are important.

Host: If we were having this conversation in the early or mid-1990s, viewers would look at you very strangely.

“What phone? The big car is what matters.”

Maxim Behar: I was like that back then too.

But today this is part of my business.

If I have a fast phone with different functions, I can do my work anywhere, in beautiful surroundings, while drinking coffee, from home, without sitting behind a computer.

Technology has changed all of us, not just my business.

We are no longer simply Homo sapiens.

We have become something like Homo socionicus.

But the change happened gradually, and that is why we cannot fully realise how much we have changed.

Not to mention the people we call Gen Z.

Sometimes we do not understand each other at all.

We say one thing, they say another.

And there is nothing wrong with that.

But if we make an effort to learn the best and most useful things, to master the technologies and even the language of the new generation, to put ourselves in their shoes, that can change us a great deal.

In the office, we have lots of monitors, computers and lots of young people.

I often walk past a colleague and ask: “What do you see on the monitor?”

She says: “I am writing a press release and I see the text.”

I say: “Do not look at the text. Try to see the reader inside it.”

You need to see the reader in that monitor.

The text itself will not bring you anything.

That is the highest level of professionalism, being able to put yourself in the shoes of the person you are talking to.

To know whether they will understand you.

Whether our viewers will understand us.

Whether they will have an idea of what we are talking about.

I have always taken tremendous pleasure in putting myself in other people’s shoes and trying to understand the people I communicate with.

Host: Let us move on to “Viva Bulgaria.”

You already mentioned the idea behind it.

How did you make it happen?

Again in one day?

Maxim Behar: Absolutely in one day. We have never spent more than one day recording.

We record everything in the same studio in Ovcha Kupel.

A very nice studio.

When we were recording “PR We Are,” the owner of the studio was getting married that same day.

He said: “Guys, can I go and sign the marriage papers? You stay here and I will be back shortly.”

Two or three hours later, he came back, like something out of a Kusturica film.

With several bottles of rakia, the bride and another hundred people, and he walked into the studio.

And we were shooting a video.

We said: “Please, we are shooting a video, wait a minute.”

And he said: “But I got married!”

It was a fantastic story.

We recorded “Viva Bulgaria” in the same studio.

With that song, I really wanted to show Bulgaria as we would like to see it 50 years from now.

May we be alive and well.

Host: Why not?

Dear viewers, let us watch the video for “Viva Bulgaria” by Maxim Behar, Misho Shamara and Lil Sha.

Host: Dear viewers, you are watching “The Ku-Ku Band Night.” Today’s guest is Maxim Behar.

What message would you like to leave with people who are afraid to dream big?

Maxim Behar: I think it is more than clear.

I have said it a million times, and I have even written it in several places in my company:

If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough.

Then they are not dreams.

They are simply wishes.

What does it mean to dream of building yourself a house?

Yes, that is wonderful.

It is very important to have a nice house.

But that is not a dream.

That is a wish.

A dream should scare you.

Last December, I was thinking: “What should I give myself for my birthday?”

I started looking at different things and said to myself: “Go and train to become a cosmonaut.”

My children said: “Are you crazy?”

My daughter Ralitsa said to me: “What astronaut?”

I said: “Wait a minute. I found a NASA facility. I have to apply.”

I immediately sat down at the computer and applied.

They looked at me and said: “This cannot be real. How are you going to train for that?”

Then my wife Veneta started telling me almost every evening: “I want to do it too. I want to do it too.”

I said: “No, please, this is not for women.”

She said: “No, I want to do it too.”

And so we went together.

Three, four, five years ago, we also walked the Camino.

She insisted that we go.

One day she said to me: “Look at the nice programme I have made. We will not walk more than 15 or 20 kilometres a day.”

I calculated it and thought: “When we are in London, we walk 15 kilometres anyway.”

But I did not calculate that we would be doing it for many days in a row.

I said: “All right, let us go.”

We walked the Camino.

We came back and wrote a book.

Now we are also writing a book about space and our training.

You need to have dreams that truly scare you.

Not terrify you, but make you say to yourself: “Can I do this? This is shocking. Can I?”

And then: “Let me try.”

Many of these things work out.

And really, if your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough.

Host: Tonight, we are going to end our meeting with the great Beatles song “All You Need Is Love.”

Why did you choose this one?

Maxim Behar: This is the second story I have never told before.

Many years ago, I had quite a few meetings with Prince Charles.

He made a very good impression on me, and when he became King, I congratulated him.

After all those years, he sent me a personal letter to thank me.

One day, I was speaking with members of his team at St. James’s Palace, where his office was at the time.

We were talking and, half-jokingly, I said that their anthem at the time was “God Save the Queen,” and now it is “God Save the King.”

But perhaps one day you should change that anthem.

Everyone froze.

Ladies with big hats and handbags.

And they said: “What do you mean, Mr. Behar? Why are you saying that?”

I said: “There is a wonderful song which, in my opinion, could be the anthem of the United Kingdom, ‘All You Need Is Love.’”

All of us, when we listen to it, know that whatever we want in life, in the end it comes down to love.

There is nothing greater.

There is nothing more valuable.

They looked at me and said: “We do not know whether that will happen in our lifetime.”

But I am convinced that one day the United Kingdom may have a new anthem.

There will be a King, a Queen or whoever it may be, and that anthem will be “All You Need Is Love.”

Host: Thank you very much for being our guest.

On behalf of myself and my colleagues, we wish you good health and that you always remain this inspired.

We have enormous respect and admiration for you and for everything you have created over the years.

Our regards to your loved ones at home.

Maxim Behar: Thank you very much.

And thank you to the girls and boys from “The Ku-Ku Band.”

I also want to say something to your viewers.

Only a happy person is a successful person.

And to be happy, you need to have love.

Nothing more.

Successful people are not those who have wealth, money, cars, houses or anything else.

Successful people are happy people.

And what I want to tell you, dear viewers of 7/8 TV, is:

All you need is love.

Host: Thank you for being with us.

That is all from us for tonight.

Stay with the programme of 7/8 TV.

We leave you with the great Beatles song “All You Need Is Love.”

You can watch the whole interview here.

“Maxim Behar: Bulgaria Needs a Clear Strategy for Its Brand”

Maxim Behar, founder and CEO of M3 Communications Group, Inc., commented on how Bulgaria can use its hosting of Eurovision 2027 to strengthen its international positioning.

According to him, the country needs a new logo, a clear slogan and a long-term communication strategy that presents Bulgaria not only as a tourism destination, but also as a business and investment destination.

Host: We are back in the studio, and in our next conversation we are turning to Bulgaria and its positioning as a brand. We will talk about what kind of publicity Eurovision brings to our country and what large-scale events of this kind mean.

Maxim Behar, founder and CEO of M3 Communications Group, is here with me in the studio. Hello and welcome.

Maxim Behar: Good afternoon.

Host: Let us begin with what the strategy should be, purely from a communication perspective and in terms of positioning Bulgaria as a brand, when we are talking about an event on the scale of Eurovision and our hosting it next year.

Maxim Behar: From what I have seen in the first two, three or four weeks in terms of the approach taken by the government and various public organisations, I have started to worry that Eurovision, or the attention that will be generated around Bulgaria, will become yet another missed opportunity.

First, we make one mistake, namely that we always connect an event like this, whether it is Eurovision, Giro d’Italia or some international meeting, with tourism.

Tourism, tourism, tourism. Let them see the beaches, let them see the hotels, let them see the cocktails and whatever else.

But Bulgaria needs to be positioned as a country for doing business.

I am sorry to say it, but Bulgarian beaches are wonderful, they are beautiful, but in terms of positioning they cannot be better than the beaches of Spain, Italy or many other countries. Not to mention my beloved Seychelles.

The Bulgarian mountains, wonderful as they are, I love hiking in them and admiring them, cannot be positioned better than the Swiss, Austrian, Spanish or Portuguese mountains.

That is why Bulgaria must make maximum use of the fact that Eurovision will take place here.

It is wonderful news that it will be in Burgas, because the people who come, the television reports, social media, TikTok, Instagram, all of them will show the Black Sea coast, the hotels and the beaches.

The truth, however, is that we are constantly waiting for something to happen. For Eurovision to come. For some international meeting to come. For someone to arrive and start posting vlogs on TikTok. And over the past roughly 20 years, I say this with great regret, I have not seen Bulgaria conduct a proactive, successful, effective and results-oriented campaign to promote Bulgaria.

Not Eurovision. Not the sea. Not the hotels.

Bulgaria.

First of all, the people, we have young, ambitious, intelligent, motivated and capable Europeans. There can be no two opinions about that.

Second, the opportunities for doing business are still there. I would say that over the past year we have started to lose some of them.

Last week I had a conversation with some French friends of mine. I asked them what was happening with their business and they told me: “Oh, we have already forgotten Bulgaria.”

I asked why.

They replied: “Very high prices, very strong pressure for higher salaries without corresponding performance or results, and far fewer opportunities for doing business.” I do not believe that this is entirely the case. There may be a first, second, third, fifth or tenth project that does not happen, but there may be another thousand that do.

The most important thing is for Bulgaria to have a new, recognisable logo. That dear little, folded and shrivelled rose that appears at tourism exhibitions, presentations and forums needs to be replaced immediately.

Second, Bulgaria must finally, perhaps for the first time in its history, have a slogan.
Whether it is my favourite “Bulgaria, Dream Area,” which I came up with more than 20 years ago, or something else, does not matter.

For example, in 2004 I came up with “Easy to Find” when my company was working on an advertising campaign around the signing of Bulgaria’s EU accession treaty. At that time, Bulgaria did not have so many air connections and links with the rest of the world.
We can forget those proposals as well.

But there need to be people who say: “Let us come up with a logo for Bulgaria. Let us come up with a slogan.”

So that our country can become recognisable. What does a product do?
Let us take an ordinary wafer biscuit. You give it a name, you give it a recognisable logo, you give it a slogan so that when you hear it on television, you go and buy that wafer.
I am sorry for the simplistic metaphor with the wafers, but Bulgaria is far more important.

And that is my concern, if I have to make a long story short, we are wasting time.

Host: But what is Bulgaria currently recognised for? And is it recognised at all?
Apart from saying that we need a new logo and that we should move beyond the traditional Bulgarian rose, what would make Bulgaria recognisable?

And how can we stop being so reactive to events of this kind? Bulgaria became a host of the Giro d’Italia, it will host Eurovision next year, but how do we become proactive?

Maxim Behar: You say “traditional Bulgarian rose,” but what we currently have as a logo is not a traditional Bulgarian rose.

It is some kind of invention. Maybe 20 years ago it was good, but not now.

First, I do not know exactly who in Bulgaria can do this.

The Ministry of Tourism? But why only tourism? This is not only about tourism. The Ministry of Economy? But why only the economy? It is not only about business. The Ministry of Culture?

The moment it was announced that there would be some kind of interdepartmental council for organising Eurovision, I said to myself: when I hear the phrase “interdepartmental council,” it becomes clear to me that nothing will get done and responsibility will get lost somewhere.

You know that story about the sergeant. He came in and said: “Someone move this piano.” Nobody moved it. He came in again: “Someone move the piano.” Nothing. Finally, he came in and said: “Ivanov, move the piano.” And Ivanov moved it.

There has to be personal responsibility.

For a long time I have even suggested that there should be a Ministry of Image. Such a ministry does not need more than ten people. It does not need secretaries, cars or huge offices. It needs five or six people who understand this subject and can answer your question: what needs to be done and how can we be proactive?
The need for a logo and a slogan is clear.

But by Eurovision, by May 15, if I am not mistaken about the date, there needs to be a clear strategy, every week, who is doing what, what is being published, what is being sent out.

And again, this is not only about the fact that our good friend Dara and the people around her managed to bring this enormous joy to so many Bulgarians, to have them singing “Bangaranga” and hoping that Bulgaria will finally appear more significantly and visibly on the map of Europe.

The important thing is to say something interesting about Bulgaria every week.
So that when foreigners come here, whether for Eurovision, during the summer or to do business, they can see it.

It could be something interesting related to geography. It could be related to people.
One of my long-standing dreams is to have a large screen at Sofia Airport.

I recently spoke with the airport director about this as well.

While people are waiting for their luggage, the screen could show the faces of Bulgarians who are recognised around the world, but whom many people do not know are Bulgarian. We know Hristo Stoichkov. We know Dimitar Berbatov. Ralitsa Vassileva, Kristalina Georgieva, Sonya Yoncheva, John Atanasoff, who is recognised as one of the pioneers and inventors of what we today call the computer.

If we manage to show Bulgaria through the people we have, through the successful business projects, there are several, and you know them, EnduroSat and many others that are extremely successful, but show them professionally. The way a shoemaker makes shoes professionally.

Let us make a series of videos. Let us invite journalists. Let us tell Bulgaria’s story. We have so many things to talk about. This is a wonderful, fantastic country, in terms of location, people, nature and everything else. And we are sitting here talking about some rose.

I am sorry for being so direct, but over the past 20 years I have not seen anyone understand this and do it. Eurovision in Bulgaria and in Burgas is one of the opportunities. Of course, we should not exaggerate its importance either. We should use it to the maximum. But the most important thing is to know, if this country is a product, and from a marketing and advertising perspective it is a product, how are we going to “sell” it over the next ten years?

I put “sell” in big quotation marks, but that is the term we use. How are we going to dress it? How are we going to package it? What ribbon are we going to put on top? So that Germans, French people and everyone else become even more interested. There has been progress over the past 15 or 20 years, but I believe it has happened despite Bulgarian governments, not because of them.

Host: How do you explain the lack of communication when it comes to business opportunities?

Are we once again talking about the lack of an adequate communication strategy for Bulgaria and its positioning as an overall brand, including as a destination for attracting major investments?

Maxim Behar: Personally, I have no explanation.

If I were somehow involved in government, I never will be, but if I were, I would make this a priority. If I were Prime Minister, every Monday at 10 o’clock I would call the ten largest investors in Bulgaria and ask them:

“Good morning. How are you? Do you need anything? Can I help you with anything?”

And once every three months I would invite them to lunch or dinner and say:
“Tell me what you think about the investment environment in Bulgaria.”

I would not want to be the one giving the assessments.

I believe Bulgaria is one of the few countries in Europe where there are major opportunities for doing business, because there are many niches and many very good people who can work in companies that want to invest.

But this needs to be promoted. This story needs to be told and people in Europe need to know it. We are operating in a very competitive market. When a large company wants to open a factory or office and is choosing between Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, perhaps Serbia, we need to have strong arguments. The euro in Bulgaria, by the way, is a huge advantage.

A fantastic advantage. Bulgaria has completed the entire cycle of integration with the European Union, the euro, Schengen and everything else.

Whatever France, Germany, Austria and other countries can list as a European advantage, Bulgaria can also say: “Yes, we have it too.” But here we also have niches for doing business.

We have a fantastic location that serves as a bridge between Asia and Europe.
Many Asian companies can come here to manufacture, and European companies can also manufacture here and export to Asia.

We have enormous advantages. I believe people in big business know them, but we need to promote them and “sell” them. The only explanation I have for the absence of such a policy is the very frequent change of governments. We have had around ten caretaker governments. Someone comes in and thinks about what will happen in three months.

The last thing on their mind is promoting Bulgaria or making it more attractive. Now the government of Prime Minister Rumen Radev has a golden opportunity to think long term. I very much hope Eurovision will be one of the factors, one of the elements.

I hope there are intelligent and knowledgeable people who will sit down and say:
“How do we imagine Bulgaria from an investment perspective in 2035, nine years from now?”

Let us see what needs to happen. That is what we do in our company. What are we doing next year? In three years? In five? In ten? How can this not be done at state level as well? And this strategy should be public. However, I believe that excessively long public discussion of such strategies cripples them. Everyone, whether they understand the subject or not, starts throwing out opinions and insisting on their own view. There need to be experts who forecast results and take responsibility for them.

If those results do not happen, they resign and others who understand the subject come in.

Host: How important is it to move beyond the idea that only Burgas is hosting Eurovision and instead talk about a national strategy that covers Bulgaria’s overall image?

And where are we losing our competitive advantage, including when it comes to foreign investment?

Is it precisely in the lack of proactive communication at state level?

Maxim Behar: It is simply the lack of proactive communication. Bulgaria continues to have the lowest taxes in Europe and that fact seems to be the most carefully guarded secret. Nobody promotes it. It is true that there are other burdens. It is true that we have high social security contributions. It is true that there are various other hidden taxes and payments.

But ultimately, there is a 10% income tax. Everyone pays it, me, you, the people working at this television station. There is nothing like that in much of Europe. When you tell a French person this, they blink for 15 minutes because they cannot believe it, because there the rates are 40–45% and above. We have a 10% corporate tax, a 5% dividend tax, and there are countries with lower rates, for example, Slovakia is at 0%.

But if all of this is promoted together with the opportunities for doing business, together with successful young Bulgarians and successful business projects, including international companies that have successful projects in Bulgaria, the picture becomes completely different.

Yes, some investor has left. Well, they left. That is life. Someone’s business may not go well. The reason may have nothing to do with Bulgaria. But the good examples have to be shown, shown and shown. I will go back to the first question. Of course, this is not only about Burgas. Bulgaria is hosting Eurovision. When the contest was in Basel, was Basel the host or was Switzerland the host? When it was in Liverpool, was only Liverpool the host or was the United Kingdom the host?

Many years ago it was also in Brighton. I remember many British people asking at the time: “Why isn’t it in London? Why on earth is it in some Brighton?”

But after all these years, what I remember is precisely that it was in Brighton. The Eurovision final will be in Bulgaria. Burgas will be the host city. The venue in Burgas and the hotels around the city have a golden, even a diamond, opportunity, a unique once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be promoted in the best possible way. There could not be better news than that. Everyone knows Sofia.

We suffer a lot from the fact that Bulgaria does not have good branding abroad.
We go somewhere, people ask where we are from, we say “Bulgaria,” and then we start explaining where it is.

But a few months ago I was at a space training programme at a NASA facility in Huntsville, Alabama.

On the first day, while we were getting to know one another and being shown around the facility, we were walking down a corridor. One of the engineers heard my accent and asked me: “Where are you from?”

I said: “Bulgaria.”

In Alabama, I expected to start explaining, north of Greece and so on. He suddenly stopped, everyone in our American group stopped as well, and he said:
“Bulgaria? You have fantastic students in mathematics. You win Olympiads. You have such good engineers. Amazing things are happening in your country.”

I grew 15 centimetres taller. These things are already known. Of course, this engineer sees things through his own engineering perspective and follows these topics. But these facts, these moments and these stories need to be told. And I am not referring only to the government.

I am also referring to the two million Bulgarians living abroad, because they are our best ambassadors. They work at Microsoft. They work at CERN in Geneva, where there is a huge transparent room with “Bulgarian Team” written on it. It is almost at the entrance when you walk into CERN.

These Bulgarians abroad are extremely important. But the fact remains that there needs to be some kind of body in Bulgaria. That is why I talk about a Ministry of Branding, a Ministry of Image, a Ministry of Communications, call it whatever you want.

Someone who says: “Let us create a good product and promote Bulgaria successfully.”

Do you know how positively this would affect business, our self-confidence, the two million Bulgarians living abroad, and Bloomberg TV Bulgaria as a television channel?

I dream of having people in government who are a little more open-minded and for whom this is a genuine priority.

Host: And as we come to the end of our conversation, what exactly should the communication strategy be?

When we talk about branding, we increasingly talk about personalisation as well.
In other words, Bulgaria should be recognisable, whether through a specific product, historical figures, or our contemporaries and their achievements, including our students competing in Olympiads.

Maxim Behar: It is quite a complex mix. People should be included, of course, because they are recognisable. Let us take Grigor Dimitrov. Everyone watches him, although for some reason many people in the UK think Grigor Dimitrov is Russian.
There is nothing wrong with that,the surname Dimitrov is also widespread among Russians. The same sometimes happens with Berbatov because of his first name Dimitar. But that is not a problem.

These are our people, Bulgarians, successful individuals, and we need to tell their stories. We also need to tell the story of our history. I am not a great supporter of concentrating everything only on our local heroes such as Levski, Botev, Vazov and the others we are so proud of, writers, poets, revolutionaries. For foreigners, this is sometimes more like local folklore. But if someone is interested in them or in history, wonderful. There are people who are interested in nature.

There are many people who are interested in archaeology, because archaeology is an eternal subject, there is no new and old there.

All of these elements need to be placed into one mix. And in the end, this mix needs to be condensed into one sentence called a slogan for Bulgaria.

Years ago, Malaysia, a country that was not particularly famous for tourism, experienced a real boom thanks to a massive CNN campaign with the slogan “Malaysia, Truly Asia.”

In fact, it was precisely “Malaysia, Truly Asia” that inspired me at the time to come up with “Bulgaria, Dream Area.”

We organised seven international conferences in a row with my partner, former Nevada Governor Bob Miller. But in 2026, there could be something much better. The important thing is for someone to say: “We are announcing a competition.”

We do not have money? Fine.

We do not need to pay an enormous amount to whoever comes up with the best slogan. We announce a competition and see the proposals. We announce a competition for a logo. We have a budget of €50,000, €100,000, €5, whatever we have.

But let there be a competition and let us see what proposals come in. In short, we need to be proactive. Not wait for Eurovision to arrive. Not wait for someone to get on a bicycle and start riding along Bulgaria’s streets and roads.

But to say: “We have a wonderful country full of fantastic people. Let us see how we can make it much better known around the world.”

This will bring not only investment. It will bring self-confidence. It will also bring a different way of life in Bulgaria.

Host: God willing. Thank you very much for this conversation.

Maxim Behar: Thank you as well.

Host: My guest here in the studio was Maxim Behar, founder and CEO of M3 Communications Group.

You can watch the whole interview here.

“Maxim Behar on Eurovision 2027: Bulgaria Needs a Common Strategy”

PR expert Maxim Behar and Assoc. Prof. Justine Toms, a specialist in online marketing and content, commented on “Bulgaria Morning” on Burgas’s preparations to host Eurovision 2027 and the proposals for the contest’s mascot.

During the conversation, they emphasized the need for a common communication strategy, stronger branding for Bulgaria, and the use of the event as an opportunity to present the country to the world.

Host: There are already several extremely interesting, entertaining and creative proposals for the mascot of Eurovision 2027 in Burgas.

The official choice is still to come, but we will now discuss the main contenders that have captured the public’s attention together with our guests, namely PR expert Maxim Behar, who is here with us in the studio, and Assoc. Prof. Justine Toms, a specialist in online marketing and content, who will join us online.

Hello to both of you. I hope Assoc. Prof. Toms can hear us as well. Mr. Behar, let us start with you. Let us begin more generally with this campaign and the question of who should be the Eurovision mascot. We are seeing all kinds of proposals, but what should we mainly focus on in the Eurovision campaign and in the campaign for host city Burgas?

Maxim Behar: First of all, good morning.

We have a wonderful topic for discussion all the way until May next year. Eurovision will probably be discussed by five or six million Bulgarians, across all social media, at home, around the table, over a glass of rakia and a salad. Everywhere.

And from six million Bulgarians there will probably be around 40 million opinions, which is a good thing, by the way, because after all this is a positive topic.

These are not murders, these are not rapes, these are not the problems that we are all constantly overwhelmed with in the media. Finally, we have a positive topic, which, on top of everything else, is pan-European, not just Bulgarian.

I do not have a definite opinion about the mascot. I think the seagull is a very good option. Now, whether it should be this particular seagull, whether it should be 60+, because this seagull is the father or grandfather of the seagulls, and exactly how it should be designed, that is another question.

It seems to me that along the entire Black Sea coast, seagulls are something of a familiar symbol that we have known for many years.

Host: Let us just say, Mr. Behar, that there are already several proposals on social media.

We have a seagull, as you mentioned, a capybara, a seahorse, and a flamingo. A kuker has also appeared.

Should we have some kind of strategy? Should the mascot be one hundred percent Bulgarian, like the kuker, or should it be connected with the sea because of Burgas? Is there a right choice?

Maxim Behar: I would make it a little more Bulgarian. Personally, I really like the seagull because it creates a local, Bulgarian association with Burgas.

I have no idea who will choose it, just as no one still has a complete idea why Burgas was chosen in the first place, since the criteria remained unknown.

That no longer matters, by the way, because Burgas has been chosen and I think it is a very good choice. A genuinely very good choice.

The entire Black Sea coast will be on the map of Europe. The whole world will know about Burgas, not only Sofia. Sofia is recognizable. Wherever I travel around the world, when I say “Bulgaria,” people ask me: “Are you from Sofia?”

This is also a huge opportunity for the entire hotel industry around Burgas, whether it is Sveti Vlas, Sozopol, Primorsko and all the other resorts, which can be promoted very well across Europe.

Host: We are back in the studio with Mr. Behar.

Mr. Behar, are we clear about what messages we want to send not only to the people who will be here in Bulgaria for Eurovision, but to the whole world? Because all eyes will be on Bulgaria.

Maxim Behar: Here we return to one of my favourite topics. We are currently debating what the symbol of Eurovision should be, while at the same time Bulgaria does not have a good tourism logo.

Bulgaria itself does not have a slogan. It is not clear where Bulgaria is or what Bulgaria is. I will give “Malaysia, Truly Asia” as an example, a very famous and very well-promoted slogan that has probably been used for two decades already. There are many other countries with similarly clear messages. Bulgaria does not have one. That is why the debate over what the Eurovision mascot or emblem should be seems secondary to me.

Above all, Bulgaria must have several clear messages. One is that it is a stable country.

The second, and perhaps even the first, is that it is a country where a great deal of business can be done. That it is a country of great people. The visitors and participants in Eurovision will see all of this, and it needs to be packaged into something very attractive and interesting as quickly as possible.

Host: But what should Bulgaria be promoted as more, a country for business or a tourism destination?

You mentioned the Black Sea coast, Burgas and the entire coastline. Where should we focus, Bulgaria as a tourism destination or Bulgaria as a business destination?

Maxim Behar: They overlap to a large extent. In my opinion, both should be secondary to one primary message: Bulgaria is a stable country with wonderful people. Of course, I am saying it in a very straightforward way. It should be expressed in a completely different and creative way.

When you know that a country is full of young, intelligent, well-educated and ambitious people, when you know that a country is stable and safe, as Bulgaria truly is, then both tourism and business would be much more likely to show interest.

Host: Mr. Behar, how can we attract as many people as possible to come to Bulgaria for Eurovision, but beyond coming for the contest itself, to return to the country afterwards?

How do we leave them with such good impressions?

Maxim Behar: The project of branding Bulgaria is not a project for today. It is not a project for yesterday either. This project has been needed for at least ten years. Now we simply have a unique opportunity to use it.

It is not so much about whether 200,000, 300,000 or 400,000 people will come. Everyone is welcome. The point is that for a moment Bulgaria will become much more recognizable and much more talked about. It will be at the centre of attention.

This is completely different from other international events, because music captures people in a completely different way and is shared in a completely different way.

I do not know whether all of this should be done at government or state level.
Personally, based on my experience, I do not believe the state on its own can initiate a meaningful and intelligent campaign.

Host: Why, Mr. Behar?

Maxim Behar: Because it has not done so for the past 30 or 40 years. But if it happens, I will be very pleasantly surprised.

However, different groups of professional experts must be involved, whether from advertising, digital media, public relations or marketing consulting. This needs to happen very quickly.

A group of experts must be created. People from abroad who have organized Eurovision in different years should be invited. These are professionals with tremendous know-how.

Perhaps two or three major international PR companies should be invited and given a brief. Will there be a tender? We do not have time for tenders. But at the very least, 20 or 30 people can gather in one place for two days, brainstorm, discuss, drink N number of bottles of rakia so that the creative ideas come more easily. I am absolutely serious.

Host: What mistakes, Mr. Behar, could we make now in preparation and organization?

Maxim Behar: Doing nothing. That is the biggest mistake.

To say to ourselves: “Eurovision is coming, Burgas will be full, apartments will be expensive,” and start only with the negative things that we are already seeing.

The biggest mistake would be to wait for something to happen simply because Dara, our beloved Dara, won Eurovision.

Host: Can we leave Burgas to handle everything on its own as the host city?

Maxim Behar: If we leave Burgas to handle it on its own, I think it will do a wonderful job. From what I have seen in recent years, both the mayor and his team are doing very well.

The most important thing, however, is for Bulgaria as a destination and as a country to gain the maximum benefit from this. We really need to try to create a new logo, have a slogan, have a marketing strategy and start producing good videos that present Bulgaria.

Host: This should come from the Ministry of Tourism, right?

Maxim Behar: It has to come from somewhere.

The Ministry of Tourism, probably to some extent also the Ministry of Economy, and the Ministry of Finance should provide the funding.

The National Board of Tourism is also a very strong factor in this strategy. Something simply has to be done. That is the most important thing, not to sit around and only argue about who the mascot should be.

We need to try to make sure that Bulgaria as a destination, whether we are talking about business, tourism, culture or anything else, gains the maximum possible benefits from the unique opportunity we have right now.

Host: How important is it, Mr. Behar, for us to truly have a slogan?

To be able to say “Eurovision is Bulgaria,” but also for Bulgaria itself to have its own motto.

You mentioned the logo. We have had so many discussions, whether it should be a rose, mountains, the sea. It seems that we cannot choose what Bulgaria’s greatest beauty is.

Maxim Behar: Let us see different proposals.

That rose we have been using for around 20 years, the yellow-and-red one, is, in my opinion, a very unsuccessful solution. It does not even look much like a rose.

Even if it was a good solution 20 years ago, life is changing so quickly, communications are changing so quickly, that we need to replace it.

Should it be a rose? I do not know. I do not believe it should be mountains. It could be a stylized letter “B.” It could be anything. You know that many years ago I organized a series of conferences called “Bulgaria, Dream Area.” They were extremely successful. People came from all over the world and they were focused mainly on tourism.

I continue to offer every government, starting with the governments of Boyko Borissov, to sell the Bulgarian state the slogan “Bulgaria, Dream Area” for one euro. It is registered by me as a trademark. “Bulgaria, Dream Area” rhymes, it is easy to remember, but it is only one of the many proposals that could exist.

A government simply needs to create a good working group of experts who can start exchanging ideas.

Host: But why, after so many years, as you yourself mentioned, has no one taken responsibility for doing this with Bulgaria’s brand so that we can be presented to the world in the best possible way?

Maxim Behar: I do not have an answer to that question. I really do not.

The most valuable thing right now is, in quotation marks, to successfully “sell” Bulgaria to the world.

Host: Do we not understand the benefits of that?

Maxim Behar: There are experts, but in my opinion no one considers this a sufficiently serious priority. And it is an absolute priority.

Host: Both you and Assoc. Prof. Toms are experts. Someone should ask you for your opinion as well.

You say that you send letters, but in the end there is no reaction?

Maxim Behar: I simply want to put into practice something that I came up with years ago, “Bulgaria, Dream Area”, because I think it works well as a rhyme and is easy to remember.

But there could be another hundred thousand different proposals. The important thing is to do it.

We simply sit down, work, set a deadline and do it.

Host: A question to both of you, where should we start?

If we are already at the stage where we absolutely have to take steps to promote Bulgaria and further promote the fact that Eurovision will be held in Bulgaria. Mr. Behar, first to you, then to Assoc. Prof. Toms.

Maxim Behar: Do you know where I first presented one of my latest songs, “Viva Bulgaria”?

Here, in this studio. Together with Big Sha, Misho Shamara and Lil Sha.

Of course, I am joking, but the song already has close to one million views on YouTube. “Viva Bulgaria” has always been something very valuable to me.

It is a metaphor. I am not saying that it should be a slogan. But if all of us somehow say to ourselves “Viva Bulgaria,” meaning that we try to do the very best for our country and our homeland, something good will come out of it.

We need to start immediately. In my opinion, we need to start by changing Bulgaria’s logo, creating a new slogan and developing a marketing programme that will gradually warm up all these television viewers and people on social media with “Bulgaria, Bulgaria, Bulgaria.”

So that when they see in May that Eurovision is in Bulgaria, their reaction will be: “Ah, we know Bulgaria.”

There needs to be a very good campaign. And not only about tourism. The videos about Bulgaria that I have seen in previous years were shockingly simplistic, not to use a stronger word.

Some young women are sweating in a sauna, others are riding scooters along the seaside, skiers are going down the slopes. We cannot have a better sea than Spain, Italy, the Adriatic or the Seychelles and advertise it in this way. We simply cannot.

Our sea is wonderful. Our mountains are wonderful. But we cannot claim that, in terms of tourism development, they are better than those in Austria or Switzerland. In terms of natural beauty, they are otherworldly, of course.

We need to show the people of Bulgaria. We need to show the people. Because both tourists and investors would be attracted if they saw the young, intelligent people in Bulgaria who are truly doing remarkable things.

Host: Thank you very much, Assoc. Prof. Toms. Thank you as well, Mr. Behar.

Maxim Behar: Keep this topic in your programme every week and you will see that you will be successful.

Host: We will continue to follow everything related to Eurovision and, of course, to the branding of Bulgaria.

Thank you, Mr. Behar, for this conversation.

You can watch the whole interview here.

Maxim Behar: The Government Must Clearly State Its Priorities

PR expert Maxim Behar, social anthropologist Mina Hristova and sociologist Mira Radeva commented in the NOVA NEWS studio of “Your Day” on the main political topics of the week, namely Bulgaria’s foreign policy, the war in Ukraine, the budget and the economic decisions of the new government.

During the conversation, Maxim Behar focused on the government’s communication, the need for a clear economic vision and a more active positioning of Bulgaria among international investors.

Host: “Your Day” is back after the commercials. It is time to comment on the political week. Joining me in the studio is social anthropologist Mina Hristova. Hello, thank you for accepting our invitation. We are also joined by Maxim Behar, the well-known PR expert. Thank you as well. We are expecting sociologist Mira Radeva to join us in the studio at any moment.

Host: This is definitely one of the more interesting topics, and I hope we will discuss it in greater detail. Mr. Behar?

Maxim Behar: I do not think it was such a hot political week, unless you are referring purely to the weather. These are normal things. We have had far, far hotter political weeks in previous years.

What is happening in this whole story, the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister, what happened in Kyiv and, before that, in Paris with his statements is actually a case of total miscommunication and a very poorly managed communication policy by the entire government.

I have been watching this for some time and I am surprised that this is the case, because these are very experienced people. Radev was in power for nine or ten years. He should have extremely experienced people around him who can manage this communication.

I do not know why anyone expects Rumen Radev suddenly to reverse everything he was saying during the election campaign and say: “We stand firmly on the side of the Coalition of the Willing; we stand on the side of Ukraine.”

We all know that Ukraine is the victim. We all know that Russia is the aggressor. We all know that Ukraine must emerge victorious from this war.

But Bulgaria has a foreign policy that the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister and this government have decided to pursue, because it was with this concept and, to a large extent, with these messages that they won the elections.

The question is how to play this as smartly and intelligently as possible, so that when the war ends, and it will end, and in my opinion it will end with a Ukrainian victory, we still have the dignity, the face and the pride to look our European allies in the eye.
This is very important. We are part of the European Union and we have to take into account the policies of the major players. We are also part of NATO, in exactly the same way.

Host: Mr. Behar, I am asking the question in this way because you work with major businesses and know many of Bulgaria’s leading businessmen.

Business behaviour has, to a large extent, adopted principles from the art of warfare. There, tactics and strategy are distinguished from one another.

If we assume that the current government’s actions in foreign policy are tactics aimed at the Bulgarian public and at the European public, do you understand what the strategy is that leads to some ultimate objective? Is there an ultimate objective behind all this behaviour?

Maxim Behar: I think what Radev’s new government is doing is quite decent and quite precise.

Yes, they have their own position. We may not approve of that position. We may disagree with it. We may want the entire government to say: “We stand firmly behind Ukraine and we are signing absolutely every possible coalition, agreement and everything else.”

But they have their own vision, their own strategy, and it seems to me that they are implementing it quite precisely. There is miscommunication, but it is not dramatic.

First, Rumen Radev has met with Zelenskyy as many times in less than two months as all five prime ministers before him had not.

Second, Rumen Radev takes part in parliamentary question time. When was the last time we saw the prime minister of a regular government take part in parliamentary question time and report on his actions?

He has a position. We may disagree with it, and we probably do disagree with it, but the way the issues involving Ukraine, Russia, the coalitions, the formations and everything else are being handled seems quite fair to me.

By the way, I do not see such a major difference between the domestic and foreign messages. There is this mantra: he goes to the West, “kisses their hands” and tells them, “We are with you,” and then comes back to Bulgaria and says, “No, we are not with them.”

That is not the case. We have fully completed our process of integration into the European Union. We have the euro as our currency, we are in Schengen and everything else.

The point is that we do not know, first, what is going on in the minds of the people in the government and, second, what is happening behind the scenes of international politics. None of us sitting around this table, unless one of us is a fortune-teller, knows exactly what is happening.

It seems to me that these people are trying to play it in such a way that they are with one side and with the other side as well. And if one day one of the two sides wins, and this is where we are already talking about strategy, they can say: “We were with you. We were on the right side of history.”

Host: Many historical tragedies have begun in exactly this way.

Maxim Behar: We would very much like him to say: “We are with Ukraine at any cost.” But he said: “Look, we are a poor country. We cannot afford to allocate money to Ukraine.” At least he says it plainly.

Host: Mr. Behar, I want to return to your statement that there is a form of miscommunication. It seems to me that it is starting to become part of the architecture of the way not only Radev and his ministers communicate, but also Radev and his MPs. How can this be changed?

And perhaps the more important question is whether you see it as a communication mistake or, on the contrary, as a deliberate system designed to allow flexibility in the Prime Minister’s decisions?

Maxim Behar: No, I do not think this is a mistake. Of course, sometimes the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing. Not to mention the pockets, you may not know what is in your left pocket or your right pocket. But Radev’s team are not amateurs, with very few exceptions. They have all been in politics for a long time.

They are simply adjusting to one another at the moment and beginning to work together. And it seems to me that after the first 100 days, I hope I am not wrong, they will come out with some kind of vision and say: “We have three and a half or four years left until the end of our term. We want to achieve this, this, this and this.”

The problem is that at the moment the whole world is such a mishmash, including in business, that nobody can predict what will happen.

We have three wars almost on our borders. One is in the Middle East, another is connected with Iran, and the third is in Ukraine. We are highly dependent on these wars, not only because of fuel and not only because of exports.

The whole world is extremely confused. There are highly conflicting messages, especially from Washington, but also from Moscow and from other countries on which we depend to some extent.

That is why it seems to me that once the first 100 days have passed, these people will sit down and say: “We want to do this under the best possible conditions.”

They can do it if they want to. But the most important thing is the economy. We are sitting here discussing Ukraine, Russia and all these things, but what is happening in Sofia, on Dondukov Boulevard, the economic thinking and the economic vision are the most important things.

There must be drastic changes in the economy. I am somewhat more market-oriented, even extremely market-oriented. Moni Passy sometimes tells me that I am a “market Taliban.”

Host: A fundamentalist.

Maxim Behar: But I believe that what happened with the retail chains — that they were going to lower prices, introduce some kind of baskets, whether they did or did not — was dust in the eyes of many people who ultimately ended up disappointed.
It seems to me that the market, to a very large extent, should determine prices, market relations and the development of businesses.

Maxim Behar: Since you are someone who hosts an economic programme and this topic is very close to you, I will tell you that things are extremely simple. Two things must be done by the government literally within a month or two.

First, a sharp reduction in all kinds of regulations and restrictions. A sharp reduction in all kinds of licensing regimes. Of course, where it makes sense for them to exist, they should remain.

And second, an extremely strong promotion of Bulgaria on the investment markets. There should be roadshows. People should go out there. Various ministers and deputy ministers have no reason to sit here. They have no work to do in Bulgaria.

They should go to Germany, go to France, go to America, go wherever they need to go and say: “Come to Bulgaria. You will have the best investment conditions.”

There are, and this is a fact, a huge number of niches here. There are businesses that you can start from scratch in Bulgaria, while in a country such as the Czech Republic this is almost impossible.

Host: All right, Mr. Behar, but we have been talking about this for a long time. Everyone knows what needs to be done in the economy.

At the same time, we are seeing almost the opposite actions. The budget of Rumen Radev’s government overlaps by around 85% with the budget of the Zhelyazkov government, which was brought down following the public dissatisfaction surrounding the budget presented at the end of last year.

How do you explain the lack of this kind of decisive courage?

Maxim Behar: The Zhelyazkov government was brought down, as Mira also said, more by the “yellow cobblestones” and by emotions.

There were accumulated emotions and a general feeling that: “Everyone is already fed up with seeing the same government for such a long time.”

Host: Mr. Behar, I will give you the floor for a final comment.

Maxim Behar: Look, Rumen Radev’s government has everything that governments have been dreaming of for the past 30 years. It has a full majority in Parliament.

It has a good, competent government, or at least people who have been through politics. They are not people entering politics for the first time. There are three legs on which this government stands: foreign policy, economic policy and social policy.

It seems to me that at the end of the first 100 days, 120 days or whatever period they choose, they should come out and state very clearly and precisely, in ten points, what they are going to do in these three policy areas.

They do not even need to address foreign policy in such detail, because to a large extent it does not depend solely on us. Tomorrow something could happen, God forbid, in Romania, Moldova, Cyprus or anywhere else, and we would have to react. But we need ten clear points on economic policy. And on social policy as well. What do we do with the non-productive parts of the population? These are pensioners, students and sick people. There needs to be a very clear ten-point concept.

Once we have that, we can meet again in this studio, with the same team, and discuss it point by point. But for now, we are somewhat blindfolded.

Host: Maxim Behar, Mina Hristova and Mira Radeva were our guests. We will be back in the studio after the commercials.

You can watch the whole interview here.

Dr. Maxim Behar has been featured in Global Leaders Views Magazine in the exclusive interview “Building the Future of Communication Through Trust, Innovation, and Human Connection.” In the conversation, he shares his views on leadership, trust, artificial intelligence and the future of PR, as well as how technology is reshaping the communications industry while human judgment, curiosity and authentic relationships remain essential.

You can read the full interview and discover Dr. Maxim Behar’s insights on the future of communication here.

The presidential race is already underway, but many of the candidates continue to communicate using strategies from the past. In a conversation on Bulgaria ON AIR, PR expert Maxim Behar comments on GERB’s moves, Iliana Yotova’s advantage, the communication strategies of the other presidential candidates, and why the economy and Bulgaria’s international image should be at the heart of the presidential campaign.

Host: By tomorrow, GERB’s party structures will decide whether or not they will have their own presidential candidate. We will now analyse the presidential race and the moves of the largest opposition party with my guests, PR expert Maxim Behar and sociologist Yuli Pavlov. Hello to both of you.

Maxim Behar: Good morning.

Host: We are waiting to hear what GERB will decide. Boyko Borissov said that he is against having their own candidate, but he is leaving the decision to the party structures. Mr. Behar, would it be a failure for GERB if they do not have their own candidate?

Maxim Behar: For around 20 years now, whatever Boyko Borissov says within GERB is what happens. I do not expect a different decision.

They do not have many useful moves left because the presidential race is already underway, and it has been for quite some time. If GERB decides tomorrow to have a candidate, which I believe they should do, given that this is a party with a significant presence in the Bulgarian Parliament and in society, they need to find an “alien” candidate. I am putting “alien” in very large quotation marks, of course.

It has to be someone who will genuinely fight tooth and nail to win and who can make it to the second round. If they put forward a candidate simply to take part in the race, for example some provincial mayor, with all due respect to all provincial mayors, whether affiliated with them or not, then it seems to me that this will simply be another loss.

GERB has had only one president so far, Rosen Plevneliev. Personally, I thought he was a very decent and successful president, but for some reason they decided not to promote him for a second term.

Let us see what happens, but I am more inclined to think that they will not have a candidate. Without attaching any political meaning to my opinion, I work in public communications, I am not a political analyst,I believe that this, however, will not have a positive effect.

Host: Mr. Behar, what is the right strategy? A moment ago, you said that at this stage GERB does not have many useful moves left.

Maxim Behar: How can I be the one to say what the right strategy is for a political party that governed Bulgaria for more than 15 years? There are political leaders in that party who have travelled the world and made both difficult and easy decisions. Regardless of whether we evaluated them positively or negatively, we used to say to ourselves, “These people are governing.”

In my opinion, they themselves are very confused at the moment. Otherwise, there would be much clearer messages and people who would clearly stand out as potential candidates.

Host: So they have no one to nominate?

Maxim Behar: They want to nominate a winning candidate, and apparently they do not have one at the moment. That is my interpretation, without having any substantial data.

I assume they are currently trying to persuade four or five people, and probably all of them are refusing. These are the candidates whom I will once again put in quotation marks, the “aliens”, who are assumed to have sufficiently broad popularity and some chance of making it to the second round. Or, if they lose, at least to lose with dignity and for it to be clearly known that they represented GERB.

But GERB is currently an opposition party, and over the past few months we have not heard many clear messages or specific proposals showing that they have a clear programme for how they intend to oppose the government. That is the role of an opposition party, including in purely economic terms, rather than simply making general statements and remarks along the lines of “you were wrong, we were right.”

It is 2026. The entire world is completely different. Not just Bulgaria. We are all different and we think differently. We have completely different types of communication, artificial intelligence, and many other tools. You can no longer use the old methods.

When I look at the communication strategies of some of the political candidates, they seem terribly outdated to me.

Host: Where do you see that?

Maxim Behar: I have no idea who is behind them or who advises them. I am sure there are people following them around, filming videos of them, and then publishing them.

Host: On social media, the ones we see most often are those of Andrey Gyurov.

Maxim Behar: Maybe because you follow him, but there are other candidates who are also quite active on social media.

With some candidates, they are trying to run American-style campaigns, even though we are not in America. In Poland, for example, Rafał Trzaskowski, of whom I am a big fan, lost elections twice with an American-style campaign.

We are talking about Poland, a modern Central European country that has developed remarkably well over nearly the past 40 years. His campaign featured huge crowds, videos of him shaving in front of a mirror, running, and other similar things. And despite all that, he lost the elections.

Bulgaria needs a completely different type of campaign. It is difficult for me to give an exact formula in five or ten minutes, but it needs to be much more human, much more focused on the middle class, and above all on specific political messages and specific proposals, both domestic and international.

Host: You say that everyone was very late in announcing their candidates, but Iliana Yotova also announced her vice-presidential candidate, Kiril Valchev, relatively late.

Maxim Behar: She has her own cards to play and her own advantage. Of course, when an incumbent president is running, that has both advantages and disadvantages. She has to assess every move very carefully because she is a much more public figure, constantly under the spotlight and currently making decisions.

In my opinion, Iliana Yotova did it correctly. The only thing I found strange was that she announced her vice-presidential candidate in a television studio, in that manner, almost as though she were walking onto a concert stage.

Host: What do you think she was trying to achieve with that? How does it affect the institutional nature of the presidency?

Maxim Behar: I have no idea. Maybe that is how she decided to do it. Iliana Yotova is a very experienced person who performs brilliantly in front of the camera, as we have all known for many years. She probably has her own reasons.

But to me, it seemed rather un-institutional for the incumbent president to announce her vice-presidential candidate by “walking onto a concert stage” and simply saying that the person next to her, Kiril Valchev, would be her candidate.

Then he himself says, “God is my witness, I had absolutely no intention of running, but I accepted.” Somehow, that did not fit with the institutional character that Iliana Yotova represents.

But that is how she chose to do it. And she genuinely does have more cards in her hand at the moment.

Host: They say she is several laps ahead of the other candidates.

Maxim Behar: I do not know whether it is exactly several laps, but unquestionably she can afford more.

The question for me is different: why is no one putting the economy on the table?

It is true that the president does not have direct responsibility for the economy; that is the job of the executive branch. But a president can have a position and a vision.

Bulgaria is in crisis. All of Europe is in crisis. Bulgaria is experiencing its wonderful entry into the eurozone, but it is experiencing it in its own way through prices, wages, inflation, and everything else we are seeing. So, if a presidential candidate wants to gain points, votes, or an advantage, I believe they need to present at least one page setting out their economic position, strategy, or perspective on what needs to happen.

Host: One more point, Mr. Behar. The presidential ticket of Iliana Yotova and Kiril Valchev brings together two journalists. How would you comment on that?

Maxim Behar: We journalists, because we are colleagues, have a very broad perspective on many issues.

Host: Will that be an advantage for them?

Maxim Behar: Yes, because the camera loves them.

Host: On the other side is the Gyurov-Kandev presidential ticket. What kind of trust can they attract, Mr. Behar?

Maxim Behar: You are tempting me to comment, even though I would rather not. Colleagues are probably behind their communications, but perhaps those people should watch a few more campaigns on television, YouTube, or elsewhere.

You cannot spend an entire week circulating a video of two candidates doing a photoshoot to the sound of “Bad Boys.”

I know Mr. Gyurov. I have not met Mr. Kandev. But regardless of who the candidates are, you cannot have the media space filled for an entire week primarily with a video of them doing a photoshoot.
What are they trying to show us with that?

Host: What are they trying to show us with that?

Maxim Behar: Well, the human side, that they are ordinary people.

Maxim Behar: The economy. Bill Clinton once said, “It’s the economy, stupid.” Even in America, which is a presidential republic, the president does not have that much direct influence over the economy.
In 2026, you cannot simply go around doing photoshoots and make that your main message. The most important thing is what you think.

We have a party with an absolute majority in Parliament. As a candidate, you need somehow to represent an alternative position and state your own view, whether that means agreeing with it or disagreeing with it.

We have not yet entered the actual campaign, but I hope that all candidates will have two main priorities or messages.

The first is how Bulgaria looks abroad. This is my favourite subject: Bulgaria’s branding, the promotion of Bulgaria, and the way our country is perceived. This also includes our positions regarding the war in Ukraine, the Middle East, and international issues, but above all the question of how we can present Bulgaria as a good place for investment and business.
The second is what needs to happen with our economy domestically.

Nothing else. All political messages such as “left,” “right,” “conservatives,” and “liberals” should remain in the background. We need to be pragmatic, pragmatic, pragmatic.

Host: Mr. Behar, does it matter where GERB’s support goes if the party does not have its own candidate? Is it possible that Borissov will simply tell his voters to vote as they see fit?

Maxim Behar: The support may not go to anyone at all. He could say, “Do whatever you want,” and from that point onward everything would depend on the other candidates.

I still think that there is time until tomorrow for some “alien” candidate to say, “All right, I’ll take the risk. Let’s see what happens.”
But otherwise, I do not believe it.

Bulgaria is so divided, the political confrontation is so intense, and these people dislike one another so much that the words “unity,” “unification,” and “together” seem to have been erased from their political vocabulary.

I do not believe that the leader of a party like GERB, which is extremely leader-driven, will say, “Support Yotova,” “Support Gyurov,” or support some other candidate. He is more likely to leave them to decide for themselves.

But if he does that, it will be a major negative for GERB. I am returning to the beginning of our conversation.

I do not believe there is another political party in Europe that has been this strong and governed for so many years, yet only a week before the deadline would suddenly back away and say, “Do whatever you want.”

In practice, that would sound like: “We are not particularly interested in the presidential election.”

And given that the “prime minister-president” game has been going on for 15 years, to suddenly say, “What is the big deal? President, let the others fight for it, and let our people vote for whoever they want,” is not serious.

Host: Mr. Behar, a final sentence from you.

Maxim Behar: I will simply return to one word used by the respected sociologist Yuli Pavlov: an “opposing” party.
There should not be opposing parties and people who hate one another. It is true that there are different concepts. It is true that there is competition.

But what I want to say in conclusion is that we have a very interesting month and a half ahead of us. There is a clear candidate who is currently the frontrunner, but we do not know how things will develop.

Let us see whether there will be any surprises in this campaign.

Host: We will continue with the commentary. Thank you very much for this conversation.

You can watch the whole interview here.

Honorary Consul General of the Republic of Seychelles in Bulgaria Dr. Maxim Behar premiered his new original song, We Are Seychelles, created especially to mark the island nation’s golden jubilee.

Dozens of representatives of the diplomatic corps, government institutions, and the business community gathered yesterday at Vrana Palace to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the independence of the Republic of Seychelles. The official reception was hosted by Dr. Maxim Behar, Honorary Consul General of the Republic of Seychelles in Bulgaria. Among the distinguished guests were Prince Boris of Tarnovo, representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Tourism of Bulgaria, Dean of the Diplomatic Corps in Bulgaria H.E. Zakia El Midaoui, as well as dozens of ambassadors and diplomats accredited to Bulgaria.

In an official congratulatory message, Dr. Velislava Petrova-Chamova, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria, emphasized:

“Bulgaria highly values the friendly relations and constructive cooperation that have developed between our two countries and reaffirms its commitment to strengthening these ties and expanding cooperation in areas of mutual interest, including tourism, sustainable development, education, and multilateral relations.”

In her address, H.E. Zakia El Midaoui, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco and Dean of the Diplomatic Corps in Bulgaria, paid special tribute to Dr. Maxim Behar by presenting him with a commemorative statuette in recognition of his long-standing service as Honorary Consul General of the Republic of Seychelles.

“Dr. Maxim Behar is an outstanding example of how an honorary consul can build a genuine bridge between two nations. Thanks to his dedication, Seychelles has become much better known in Bulgaria, and the friendship between our peoples continues to grow stronger,” said H.E. El Midaoui.

During the ceremony, Dr. Behar also received a Certificate of Recognition for his contribution to the honorary consular community from Borislav Boyanov, Chairman of the Association of Honorary Consuls in Bulgaria.

One of the most emotional highlights of the evening was the premiere of the original song We Are Seychelles, written and performed by Dr. Maxim Behar especially for the 50th anniversary of the Republic of Seychelles’ independence. The song also features renowned Seychellois singer Rita Romain. The music was composed by Lil Sha with the participation of his father, Big Sha, as music consultant. The official music video was produced by M3 Communications Group, Inc. and directed by Kristian Nedelchev, Head of the company’s Video Department.

“It is a tremendous honour for me to have represented the Republic of Seychelles in Bulgaria for more than two decades. Today we celebrate not only 50 years of independence, but also the friendship between our two countries. We Are Seychelles is my personal gift to the people of Seychelles and to everyone who loves these unique islands,” said Dr. Maxim Behar.

Among the official guests were also Borislav Venkov, Desk Officer for Seychelles at the Middle East and Africa Directorate of the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Irena Georgieva, former Deputy Minister of Tourism; Dr. Solomon Passy, President of the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria and former Minister of Foreign Affairs; Mircho Ivanov, Director of the Protocol Directorate at the Administration of the President of Bulgaria; and Dr. Polina Karastoyanova, Executive Director of the National Tourism Board.

For more than two decades, Dr. Maxim Behar has worked actively to strengthen relations between Bulgaria and the Republic of Seychelles. Among the initiatives implemented with his participation are the Seychelles Investment Forum, the establishment of the Seychelles News Agency — today one of Africa’s leading news agencies — and the modernization of the digital platform of the national newspaper Seychelles NATION. He also serves as Chairman of the PR and Media Committee of the World Federation of Consuls (FICAC), as well as Vice President and Spokesperson of the Association of Honorary Consuls in Bulgaria.

The Consulate General of the Republic of Seychelles in Bulgaria was established in July 2004 by Decision №578 of the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is headquartered in Sofia, and its consular district covers the entire territory of Bulgaria.

From a 13-year-old carpenter to one of the best PR experts in Europe, and someone who completed astronaut training at NASA — the journey of Maxim Behar is proof that limits exist only in the mind. In an interview for 7/8 TV, he talks about the power of dreams, leadership, trust, and why the most important quality in a person is “the spark in the eyes.” A conversation about success, the courage to step out of your comfort zone, and the drive to always pursue the next big challenge.

Today’s guest can be described with a single word — a word that everyone wishes to possess, yet only a few have the character, potential, and ambition to truly deserve it: motivator. His story is so inspiring that I am certain that, even without realizing it, he has become a role model for generations of people in many different areas of life.

His professional journey began at the age of just thirteen, working as a carpenter in a dairy plant. He then went on to work in a machine-building factory, journalism, international correspondence across different parts of the world, diplomacy, and business before eventually discovering the profession of public relations and falling in love with it.

In return, the profession rewarded him not only with satisfied clients but also with a place in the PR Hall of Fame and the prestigious recognition of being named Europe’s Best PR Professional in both 2020 and 2022.

In addition to his professional achievements, he is the proud father of two wonderful children and the fulfiller of countless dreams. And his dreams are so ambitious that they extend beyond the boundaries of Earth itself. That is why he recently completed astronaut training at NASA together with his wife.

There is much more I could say about him, but with great pleasure and anticipation, I now give the floor to the colorful, inspiring, and eternally positive Maxim Behar.

Maxim: Hello! Good evening! I’m very happy to be here.

Host: We’re delighted to have you and grateful that you accepted our invitation.

Maxim: Of course. Anytime!

Host: Welcome. As I was listening to your introduction, it struck me that it sounds like three lifetimes’ worth of experiences. Yet it’s all contained within one life — yours. So I’d like to begin by asking: looking back, which chapter of your journey has been the most valuable to you so far?

Maxim: It depends on how you choose to live your life. Someone might think what you’ve described is enough for five lifetimes. To me, it’s simply one ordinary life — one that has brought me tremendous joy. I continue to live it with the same passion, motivation, and curiosity that I have every single day. I don’t have a favorite chapter. The most exciting chapter is probably still ahead of me. Every stage you mentioned was fascinating in its own way, and I’ve always tried to take the very best from each experience. For the past thirty-two years, I’ve been working exclusively in public relations. Of course, I do many other things alongside my profession. I constantly try to step outside my comfort zone. But I remain focused on my business because it gives me enormous satisfaction. PR is a unique profession — it moves at the speed of light, changes at the speed of light, and every day is different.

Every morning, when I drive my tiny two-seater electric car — a little red one that I affectionately call my “Trabant” — to the office, I’m filled with energy, excitement, and anticipation. I imagine the people I’ll meet, the conversations we’ll have, the strategies we’ll create, and the clients we’ll begin working with.

Host: So you’re manifesting your day in advance?

Maxim: I don’t know if I’d call it manifestation. It’s more like mental training. Actually, it starts while I’m in the shower. I mentally go through the entire day ahead. The only reason it begins there is because there’s no mobile phone in the shower. Otherwise, we all know what happens when we wake up in the morning. The first thing most of us do is look at our phones.

Host: I really liked hearing that you wake up at 7:01 a.m.

Maxim: Yes, 7:01 exactly. It’s a little superstition of mine — I want to be number one. At the same time, seven o’clock is simply the right time for me to get up, take a shower, get ready, read the news, have one or two coffees, and head to work. That’s why it’s 7:01. Sometimes I hit snooze when I’m especially tired — we all do that. But the alarm is always set for 7:01.

Host: Do you have a strict bedtime routine as well?

Maxim: No. Absolutely none.

Host: So your evenings are open-ended?

Maxim: It depends. Sometimes we find a great movie to watch. We also watch a lot of rock concerts — that’s how we recharge. In fact, traveling to rock concerts around the world has become one of our favorite ways to spend our vacations. But no, I don’t have a bedtime routine. I honestly can’t remember the last time I went to bed before one or two in the morning.

Host: And yet you still wake up at seven?

Maxim: Yes. And I’m always energized. I genuinely enjoy every moment of life. Even the problems, challenges, and obstacles are enjoyable to me because I always choose to see the glass as half full.

Host: How do you manage to fit everything into a day? Listening to you, it feels as though your days must have forty-eight hours instead of twenty-four.

Maxim: No, my day is probably eighteen or nineteen productive hours long. I write books. I currently have several unfinished manuscripts sitting on my computer waiting to be completed and published. Right now, my wife and I have started writing a book about our semi-space adventure — our astronaut training at NASA in the United States.

Host: So this one won’t be focused on your profession. It’ll be more about your personal experiences?

Maxim: It will be more about dreams. Because I often say that if your dreams don’t scare you, they’re not really dreams — they’re merely wishes. Dreams should be frightening. When you’re sitting here in Sofia and someone starts talking about astronaut training, a mission to Mars, weightlessness, walking on the Moon, and taking those first lunar steps, most people think it’s impossible. What we want to show in this book is that it is possible. If we were able to do it and return successfully, then these things can be achieved. Anything is possible if you truly want it and are willing to pursue it. When we were flying back from America, somewhere between Washington and Munich — or perhaps Frankfurt — the plane was completely full. The seats were tiny and cramped. We sat down, and my wife Veneta looked around and said: “How are we supposed to spend ten hours sitting here?” I turned to her and said: “We just went to Mars. We piloted a spacecraft. And now you’re worried about ten hours to Munich?” That’s what this book will be about — dreams.

I’ve also written a book about Public Relations and the PR industry. It quickly became a bestseller. It was published in the United States by a major American publishing house and later released in Bulgaria and several other countries in different languages. I have a book on leadership and management called Five Minutes Until Tomorrow, which I wrote during the COVID pandemic. I also have a book about the Seychelles.

Host: As I understand it, one of your books was actually written on Facebook.

Maxim: That was my second book.

Host: How does someone write a book on Facebook?

Maxim: Very simply. In 2008, the financial crisis began. In business, one of the most important things is making decisions — making them quickly. That’s one of my personal principles, something I’ve always believed in. I remember that everyone was shocked. For the first time in our business lives, we were facing a truly global financial crisis. One morning, I came out of the shower, wrapped in a bathrobe, sat down at my computer, and decided to motivate my Facebook followers to take action and make decisions.

So I wrote: “Even the worst decision is better than no decision at all.”

In other words: make a decision. You can always adjust it later. Then I added: Rule №1 Almost immediately, someone commented: “Okay, but what’s Rule №2?”

And I thought to myself: “Wait a minute… now I actually need a Rule №2.”

Rule №2 became:”Never take yourself too seriously.”. Because all of us know people who begin taking themselves very seriously, very quickly. They start believing they’re exceptionally important, when in reality we’re all simply human beings.

And that’s how it started.

Host: And then you kept going every day?

Maxim: Every single day. I wrote a new rule every day. Eventually I reached ninety-nine.

Host: I’m sure you don’t remember all of them anymore.

Maxim: Of course not. But I personally wrote every single one. Then a publisher called me and said: “Max, I’ve been following your posts on Facebook. Let’s turn them into a book.”

I laughed and said:”Come on. Who’s going to read a book that was written on Facebook?”. But he insisted. I agreed, under one condition: the book couldn’t end at one hundred rules. I wanted it to have 111 rules instead. He was silent for twenty or thirty seconds and then asked: “Why 111?”

I said:”Because it’s three number ones.”

You might become Number One once by accident. Maybe even twice if circumstances are favorable. But three times? That doesn’t happen by chance. And that’s the story behind that book.

Host: And what about your very first book?

Maxim: My first book was published in 2000. It contained articles I had written while reporting from Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia during the collapse of communism in 1989 and the early 1990s. I wanted to preserve those articles as historical testimony — to document what was happening, what I had witnessed, and what I had written about. The book includes interviews with people such as Lech Wałęsa and Spain’s legendary Prime Minister at the time, Felipe González, among many others. That was my first book. To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of writing books.

Host: That’s hard to believe when you’ve already written seven of them — and still have two more waiting to be finished.

Maxim: I think books are simply another way of delivering a message. Whether you write on Facebook, Instagram, or in a book, you’re still communicating ideas. You know, I also rap with Misho Shamara.

Host: Yes, I’ve heard about that!

Maxim: One day Poli Genova called me and said: “Max, I love your latest song. It’s fantastic.”

And I replied: “Wait a second, Poli. I’m not a singer. You’re the singer. You’re the artist. I work in marketing.”. But somehow it happened. Misho and I are friends. At one point he told me he owed me a favor. I said: “You don’t owe me anything. Maybe one day we’ll record a song together.”. Then he started calling every few days: “I’ve booked the studio.” Before I knew it, we had recorded one song. Then another. And another. We’ve already recorded seven songs together, and our next one is being released in a couple of weeks.

Host: At this point, you’re ready for an album.

Maxim: Probably. But whether it’s books, music, television appearances, or anything else I do, my goal is always the same: To send messages. To communicate ideas. To inspire people who are willing to listen.

Host: And it seems to be working. When people listen to you, they begin thinking: “Maybe I really can do it.”

Maxim: I’m very happy to hear that. Because one of my biggest goals is to motivate people — especially young people. I work with colleagues who are between twenty-two and twenty-five years old. People call them „Generation Z“. I jokingly call them the easy generation. A generation that has never truly experienced hardship.

Host: Doesn’t that make it harder for them to become real professionals?

Maxim: That depends entirely on the individual. It depends on their upbringing. It depends on what they want to achieve. I can turn an amateur into a professional within a few months. Someone can come into my company knowing absolutely nothing about PR, and after five or six months they can become a competent professional. But there is one thing I cannot do. I cannot turn a lazy person into a hardworking one.

Host: That’s absolutely true.

Maxim: And I can’t turn someone who enjoys gossip and office politics into a genuine team player. I can’t teach someone not to envy others. So it all depends on character. Fortunately, I get along extremely well with my younger colleagues.

Host: Do you prefer working with younger people, or is that simply the way life and business have evolved?

Maxim: I don’t think I can afford to have preferences in that regard. This is business. There are many talented young people graduating from universities in Sofia every year. They want to build careers, gain experience, and prove themselves. Most of them come to us as interns. Those who show genuine interest, ambition, and a desire to succeed usually stay with the company. At the same time, our two managing directors, Kristina and Miglena, have been working with me for over twenty years. Think about that for a moment. For a young person, twenty years is practically an entire lifetime. That kind of loyalty and continuity means a great deal to me.

Host: I think it’s important to mention something for our viewers who may not know this. You’re the founder, owner, and CEO of your company, yet you don’t like being called an employer.

Host: Why is that?

Maxim: Because I don’t see myself as an employer. Legally speaking, of course, employment contracts describe the relationship as employer and employee. But that’s not how I view it. I’m a colleague. My team and I are colleagues. Sometimes they give me work. Sometimes I give them advice. Sometimes they correct me. And that’s perfectly fine. In my book Five Minutes Until Tomorrow, I dedicate an entire chapter to what I call horizontal leadership. I believe the old model — with one director, two deputy directors, three department heads, layers of management, and endless bureaucracy — is becoming increasingly outdated. By the time a decision travels through all those levels, valuable opportunities may already be lost. That’s why I try to create a much more horizontal structure within our company. When I need to make a managerial decision, especially regarding major clients or financial matters, I do so. But in our day-to-day work, I don’t want to be “the employer.” I simply want to be another PR professional working alongside my colleagues.

Host: What qualities do you look for when hiring someone? I remember hearing you say in an interview that you can evaluate a person within ten seconds.

Maxim: I have only one requirement. Just one. A sparkle in the eyes. Nothing more.

Host: Really? Surely many people can fake that during an interview.

Maxim: Not as easily as you’d think. The sparkle comes first. If someone looks half asleep, unmotivated, disconnected — you notice it immediately. For me, that sparkle represents motivation. It represents creativity. Ambition. Curiosity. The desire to achieve something meaningful. Of course, I’ve made mistakes. I’ve misjudged people before. But I can tell you a story. Not long ago, I walked into one of our conference rooms to grab something. There was a young woman sitting there waiting for an interview. I greeted her. She greeted me. I left the room and immediately asked my colleagues: “Who is that young woman?”. They told me she was interviewing for an internship. I said to hire her immediately. Two years later, she became a department director. I saw the sparkle. I saw the way she looked at me. I saw her facial expression. Her energy. Her attitude. And I knew.

Host: That’s incredible.

Maxim: One day, a former colleague who had started working for a fashion magazine that organized annual awards and rankings called me and asked whether I could recommend one of my managers or executives for the “Woman of the Year” competition. I recommended Vili. When she asked which Vili I meant, I explained that I was referring to Vili, our cleaning lady. At first, she thought I was joking.

But I wasn’t. Vili had worked with us for twenty years. Every morning she arrived at five o’clock. The rest of us usually came in around eight or nine. She was always smiling. Always positive. Always making coffee for everyone. Always taking care of people. I happened to be abroad when the awards ceremony took place. But Vili won. She was named Woman of the Year.

Host: Bravo!

Maxim: I was incredibly proud. To this day, there’s a framed copy of the magazine’s front page hanging in our office kitchen. It’s one of my favorite business stories. Vili is retired now. She still calls me on my birthday. And I always call her on hers. No matter what position someone holds, how much money they have, what car they drive, or how important they think they are, people deserve respect. We should appreciate those we work with. We should acknowledge their contributions. And we should treat them the way we treat our children or our families. That philosophy has helped me enormously throughout my career. It’s also the way I try to treat my colleagues every day.

Host: Maybe that’s one of the reasons you’re so successful. You seem to have found the right formula. But I’d like to ask something else. You motivate so many people. What motivates you?

Maxim: The unknown. The unknown motivates me. My dreams motivate me. Challenges motivate me. People often say: “Learn from your mistakes.”. I actually disagree with that. If you’ve made a mistake, you’ve already made it. What’s there to learn? And if you repeat the same mistake, then you’re simply being foolish. Instead, I believe we should learn from our successes. That’s what inspires me. Let’s say you’re climbing mountains. You reach the summit of „Cherni Vrah“. What do most people do? They look down. But why look down? You’ve already been there. The important question is: What’s the next mountain? Perhaps Musala. So let’s go there. Of course, I’m speaking metaphorically. Although I have climbed both. The point is that when you’re constantly pursuing new and exciting challenges, motivation comes naturally. Many people spend their evenings scrolling through television channels: “I don’t like this movie.”, “I don’t like that one either.” , “There’s nothing good on.” That’s one way to pass the time. But it’s a very flat way to live. And flatness makes me uncomfortable. I need obstacles. I need challenges. I need something to overcome.

Host: So, in a way, you enjoy things being difficult?

Maxim: I’m not sure “difficult” is the right word. What I enjoy is overcoming things. Sometimes it’s easy. Sometimes it’s hard. But I like the process of pushing beyond what I already know and what I’ve already achieved.

Host: What’s the next big goal you’ve set for yourself — personally, I mean, after NASA?

Maxim: People ask me that all the time.

They say: “Okay, you’ve been to NASA. You’ve completed astronaut training. You’ve earned the certificates. What’s next?”

By the way, we completed the full astronaut training program. From A to Z.

Host: Did you experience weightlessness?

Maxim: Of course. A few days after we returned, Bulgaria’s first cosmonaut, Georgi Ivanov, called me. He said: “Maxim, I watched one of your interviews on television, and I’m very happy for you.”

I told him I would love to meet him. Then he said something that meant a great deal to me: “Everything I experienced in space, you experienced on Earth.”

For me, that was one of the most meaningful compliments I’ve ever received.

Host: Absolutely.

Maxim: And now that we’ve completed this journey, people naturally ask what comes next. We have a friend named Stefan Ivanov. Perhaps you’ve heard of him. Together with his son Maxim, he rowed across the Atlantic Ocean.

Host: Yes, I remember that story.

Maxim: Just the two of them. Ninety days. Rowing from Portugal to Trinidad. Through storms. Through difficult conditions. My wife and I were involved in that project from the very beginning. Stefan is a close friend and an excellent banker. One evening he called me and invited me to dinner. I had no idea what he wanted to discuss. When we sat down, he looked at me and said: “I’m going to row across the Atlantic Ocean.”

At the time, his son Maxim was only fifteen and a half years old. He celebrated his sixteenth birthday in the middle of the Atlantic. Then Stefan asked: “Would you like to see the boat?”

I said yes. We went down to his garage. There, he was building the boat himself from epoxy resin. Piece by piece. But he wanted the expedition to have a purpose. A cause. The mission was to raise awareness about organ donation. There are people who suffer severe accidents and desperately need a kidney, a lung, or another life-saving transplant. In Bulgaria, organ donation has not traditionally been a widely discussed topic. Stefan wanted to change that. He wanted to encourage people to think differently and understand that, after death, their organs could potentially save other lives. He asked me if I would help promote the project. Then he asked how much it would cost.

I told him:”Projects related to culture, education, or meaningful social causes never receive an invoice from us.”

We’ve supported hundreds of cultural and educational initiatives over the years. I told him we would help free of charge. But under one condition. The first evening after he returned from the expedition, he had to come to our house for dinner. And he did. Years later, when my wife and I returned from NASA, I called him from the United States and said: “We’re arriving home on Sunday. Monday evening — dinner at our place.” He came together with his wife, Zheni. We sat around the table, talking. At one point Stefan looked at me and asked:

“So what’s next?”. I told him: “I don’t know exactly. But I know it has to be something bigger. Something like the North Pole.”

Host: A person is only as big as their dreams. And you certainly prove that.

Maxim: Only if those dreams scare you. If they don’t scare you, they aren’t dreams. They’re just wishes. I remember when I first told my children about the astronaut training. It was December.

I said:”I’m thinking about training to become an astronaut.”

They looked at me and said: “Are you crazy? What space? Where are you going? Please don’t do that!”

But that’s exactly what motivates me. To answer your question — I need interesting things to overcome. I need opportunities to learn. I need challenges that push me beyond my comfort zone. Because all of us live inside a kind of cloud. Family. Friends. Work. Daily routines.

Host: Work — and that’s about it.

Maxim: Exactly. But from time to time, I want to step outside that cloud. I want to see things more clearly. I want to challenge myself. And at the same time, make life more interesting.

Host: What was the first truly big dream that came true for you? The one that made you realize you could keep climbing higher?

Maxim: You mentioned earlier that I started working at a dairy factory when I was thirteen. One day, while I was building wooden crates, the director came over and asked: “Who’s Behar?”. I immediately thought I had done something wrong.

Then he asked:”Do you speak English?”. At the time, I was studying English twice a week at a local community center. When I said yes, he asked me to help him with some work. And that’s where the story of my first dream begins.рUsing a typewriter that stood on a desk near his office, I started publishing a small neighborhood newspaper.

Host: I bet you still have copies somewhere.

Maxim: Perhaps somebody does. That little newspaper was my first dream. Eventually, I began working for newspapers professionally. Later, I became involved in launching Standart, which still exists today. That original dream kept growing. But it all started there — with that tiny neighborhood publication. The stories were simple. Who was dating whom. Who had a crush on whom. Who was reading which books. Where people were spending their evenings. But even then, I wanted to communicate ideas. To send messages. That’s all I’ve ever really wanted to do. And it’s still what I do today.

Host: We sincerely wish you continued success. We hope you’ll come back again because there are still so many topics we’d love to discuss with you.But before we finish, we have a traditional question that we ask all our guests.What is the one thing that annoys you most about your profession?

Maxim:In my profession?A lack of ideas.A lack of creativity.When someone has to do something for a client — or when one of my colleagues has to do something for a client — and they do it simply to check a box.Just to get it over with.When there is no passion behind the work.When there is no sparkle in the eyes.That bothers me.You see, we don’t sell PR.We don’t sell services.We don’t sell marketing.We sell trust.In fact, one of my most recent books is called The Power of Trust.The book explores topics such as artificial intelligence, online hate, misinformation, and fake news.Trust has become one of the most valuable currencies in the modern world.And when someone doesn’t trust me, it can genuinely hurt.Of course, I do everything possible to make sure that doesn’t happen.Because trust must be earned every single day.

Host: That’s a very powerful message.And perhaps that’s why people respond so strongly to what you do.Whether it’s your books, your business, your talks, your music, or even your adventures, everything seems to revolve around inspiring people and building trust.

Maxim:I hope so.At the end of the day, everything I do is really about communication.It’s about sharing experiences.Sharing lessons.Sharing opportunities.And hopefully helping someone realize that they can do more than they thought they could.Because most limits exist only in our minds.The moment we decide to challenge them, remarkable things begin to happen.

Host: What would you say to a young person who is watching this interview right now and wondering whether they can achieve their dreams?

Maxim:I would tell them not to wait.Don’t wait for perfect circumstances.Don’t wait for permission.Don’t wait for someone else to tell you that you’re ready.Start now.Make mistakes.Learn.Move forward.And most importantly — dream big.Dream so big that your dreams scare you.Because if they don’t scare you, they’re probably not dreams.They’re just wishes.The people who achieve extraordinary things are not necessarily the smartest or the most talented.Very often, they’re simply the ones who keep moving forward while everyone else is hesitating.They take action.They remain curious.They continue learning.And they refuse to give up.That’s what makes the difference.

Host: That’s a wonderful message to end onThank you very much for this conversation. It was truly inspiring and incredibly interesting.

Maxim:Thank you.And thank you for creating such a positive atmosphere.Stay optimistic.Stay creative.Stay curious.Keep smiling.And I hope your audience continues to grow because you’re doing something valuable.

Host: Thank you very much.And thank you for being with us.

You can watch the whole interview here.

Interview on BULGARIA ON AIR

Dara’s “Bangaranga” dance became a global phenomenon, quite literally taking over the Eurovision stage and social media around the world. Behind the impressive choreography stand both international and Bulgarian creatives who shaped the vision of a performance that left a powerful impression on audiences. In the studio, PR expert Maksim Behar and Associate Professor Justine Toms discuss how this success changed perceptions of Bulgaria and what comes next.

Hosts: Dara’s “Bangaranga” dance was so memorable and magnetic that it traveled all around the world. Behind the impressive choreography stands the Swedish Eurovision veteran Fredrik Rydman. However, the first choreography of “Bangaranga” began during the Bulgarian national competition, and the most memorable movement also came from Bulgarian choreographer Kevin Kolev. Let’s see how dance conquered the world.

…..

Host: Joining us in the studio are PR expert Maksim Behar and Associate Professor Justine Toms, who is an expert in the world of social media. Hello and welcome!

Justine: Bangaranga to you too!

Host: So, this is how we’ll greet each other from now on! Mr. Behar, how did Dara manage to conquer Eurovision? Such a landslide victory. Both the jury and the audience said: this is the winner; this is number one. This is Europe’s Bangaranga.

Maksim: My Facebook profile is very public, and everyone can read what I wrote on Saturday morning congratulating Dara on winning Eurovision. Maybe twenty hours before the voting, because from the very first moment it was clear that this was a very winning project. She didn’t make a single mistake either in her musical performance or in the presentation itself. Even after the victory, she was incredibly warm and genuine; everything was done perfectly. I simply had to watch the other contestants to understand where everyone stood. And after the first round, once I saw them all, I said to myself: of course it’s this one. What makes me happy is that, in the end, this is Bulgaria’s last step toward full membership in the European Union. After NATO, the European Union, Schengen, and the Eurozone, we also have Eurovision. And with this, our process of joining Europe is finished. A particularly good project. It shows that foreign experts and specialists should be used, that we should learn from the pleasant experience various people have already gained in Eurovision. And of course, she managed it brilliantly. Not only from a marketing point of view. Again, the moment I heard the song a few months ago, I said to myself: this belongs to Eurovision. We just didn’t know what the other competitors would be like and this year they were extremely weak.

Host: Associate Professor Toms, we saw two extremes on social media if I may put it that way. The wave of criticism against Dara after the national selection and the choice of “Bangaranga.” And now she has completely taken over social media worldwide. Everyone is talking about Bulgaria, about Dara, about Bangaranga, about Eurovision, about what she achieved. How did this girl, even though the force of her personality alone, manage to turn things around so dramatically?

Justine: Yes, social media algorithms polarize society. We know this; we see it with every topic. And clearly, they could polarize Bulgarian society over this topic as well. Of course, the more someone stays inside their own bubble, the more that bubble confirms their opinions. But with her incredible energy she has amazing energy to answer every journalist, to comment under posts, to smile at everyone, to grab the microphone and speak, to communicate even when she needs to protect her voice for singing, that contributed enormously. Of course, her charisma is also huge, and we’ve all witnessed how it developed over time. But now, with this international success, where literally the entire world is singing “Bangaranga,” the local haters, so to speak, have gone quiet and been drowned out. Very, very strongly drowned out since yesterday since the night before.

Host: Mr. Behar, you said Dara didn’t make a single mistake. Where did they see their strongest advantage? Was it in the catchy chorus, the way “Bangaranga” sticks in your head? From what Associate Professor Toms said, every chance she had with the media, she kept repeating “Bangaranga,” and people were saying: “I don’t even know what it means, but I like it and it makes me smile.”

Maksim: I just want to make one remark about the previous topic. We shouldn’t be worried at all that there’s hate. We shouldn’t be worried that someone doesn’t like the song. This is art, after all. We can’t expect millions of Bulgarians and millions more abroad all to say: “Ah yes, this is wonderful.” Of course, modern communication allows for stronger emotions than what we call hate. It allows someone who’s had two rakias to sit behind a keyboard and say things they wouldn’t say if they hadn’t drunk those two rakias.

Host: But you know, Mr. Behar, Dara was on the edge back then and was saying there was a possibility she might withdraw from Eurovision.

Maksim: Yes, everyone has been on the edge I’ve been there many times too. Dara embodied my personal motto, which I’ve mentioned in this studio before: if your dreams don’t scare you, then they’re not big enough. Or they’re not really dreams at all. If your dreams don’t scare you, then they’re just wishes or vague thoughts about achieving something. When you face such a huge problem, that’s when you mobilize yourself and want to overcome it. And it’s good that there was I don’t even know if I should call it hate. It’s good there were other opinions. Of course, the way the entire composition was created was the easy name, the rhythm, the people around her, the dancers. And the choreography was wow. It was perfect. That Swede who has worked on Eurovision several times I think he’s even won once or twice.

Host: Yes, as you said, you collaborated with people who know what Eurovision requires.

Maksim: Everything was done in an extremely modern way. It wasn’t archaic. In principle, Eurovision is often a contest of sad pop songs with people melting emotionally on stage. And whenever there’s some real dynamism, those acts usually win starting from ABBA and many other groups that brought energy to the stage and stood out. And of course, when you see Dara with this entire project, with the amazing choreography, the superb performance, the dynamism, and energy, you naturally say: of course this is going to win. It’s wonderful, and it’s wonderful that she fulfilled her dream. A good example of how dreams should come true for all of us, and how you should never become discouraged. There are many people who think that if everyone likes your song, then you should worry. And perspective helped her cross that barrier, just as she wrote in an interview that she slept for seven hours, woke up, and her husband told her: “You have to go.” And yes, there are moments like that. But those moments bring true success. They make a person strong, and they build character.

Host: Associate Professor Toms, how do we expect this wave to continue after Eurovision, because we shouldn’t forget that Bulgaria will now host Eurovision which is also a major success thanks to Dara. How do we expect this momentum to continue? We see children dancing the choreography, so motivated and enthusiastic. How can this continue from here?

Justine: Actually, with winning Eurovision I read this somewhere, and I completely agree the transition is over. An exceptionally long and painful Bulgarian transition. Now we can honestly say we are an equal, modern European country. I hope Bulgaria presents itself next year when we host. Several mayors have already expressed readiness. There’s already a battle over where Eurovision Bulgaria should take place. But I also think this huge wave we’re about to witness won’t stop today. Social media will continue amplifying the effect. Dara’s song will become even more globally famous. I believe this will reflect very positively on Bulgaria. The tourist season is coming; other major events are coming. And perhaps I should also mention that the Booker prizes will be announced this week. That’s also something important. Overall, I see good days ahead for Bulgaria.

Host: Mr. Behar, do we realize what a huge opportunity Eurovision is for promoting our country globally? So many countries will come to Bulgaria. Maybe even Sofia still doesn’t know the location. Literally all eyes will be on Bulgaria next year.

Maksim: One friendly correction. The transition is not over. What ended was Bulgaria’s full membership in the European sphere. There will always be transitions. There will be crises. God willing, there won’t be wars like the ones happening now. Bulgaria will always be in transition. America is in transition right now. The United Kingdom too. What lies ahead of us is because many people compare this to 1994. Yes, we can compare the day Bulgaria finished fourth in football with the day Dara won Eurovision. But after 1994, everything ended there. Now, what lies ahead is much bigger. And this isn’t a challenge. It’s a huge opportunity. We will manage it brilliantly there’s no doubt about that. My only concern is that we might fall back into our small-minded local mentality and say: “Bulgaria, Bulgaria, we have to do everything ourselves and prove ourselves.” There are countless experts in Europe and beyond who have organized events like this before. In my opinion, the first thing is that they should be consulted and involved. Because now they’ll probably create committees, commissions, working groups… I’ve seen this for many years in Bulgarian reality they create working groups and everything sinks and disappears. This must be treated as a business project. Nothing else. There should be Excel spreadsheets with investments and profits. Investments and profits. How those profits will be formed, who the consultants will be. A pure business project. Then it will be hugely successful.

Host: Associate Professor Toms, would you like to add something?

Justine: We saw the state trying to act quickly on many levels. The mayors themselves reacted immediately yesterday. The mayor of Sofia welcomed Dara at the airport. All around Sofia yesterday, bus stop displays read “Bangaranga.” The state is learning to move away from slow decision-making. I hope we’ll have the capacity to rise to Dara’s level.

Host: How important is it to act quickly? As you said, we need to move fast and advertise Bulgaria. Not wait until the last moment with promotional campaigns. Starting now, even for this summer tourist season come to Bulgaria.

Maksim: I don’t know whether someone will come to the seaside or to Bansko for skiing because we won Eurovision. But Bulgaria now has much stronger branding and far greater recognition. Many more people will know about Bulgaria. Again, I only hope we don’t create working groups and drown in bureaucracy.

Host: But the Minister of Culture said such a group is expected to be formed this very week.

Maksim: I’m responding directly to my friend Miloshev with this we must look at it differently. In my business projects, I don’t create working groups. I sit down, make strategies and visions, know who will execute them, and in the end it all comes down to revenue and expenses.

Host: But you saw that Dara wished for a “House of Artists,” and Mr. Miloshev promised action toward creating one. She said she has dreamed for many years of having a space where artists could gather. We’ll still see how this idea develops, but tell us how wide open is the door now for all Bulgarian performers, since Eurovision is coming to Bulgaria?

Justine: This is truly a huge opportunity for Bulgarian music and Bulgarian art. I hear people listening to “Bangaranga” all day and then moving on to other Bulgarian artists.

We really do have exceptionally talented people trying to break through via social media. This is a huge chance for them, and maybe now it’s finally time to hear them on real stages, not just online.

Host: Mr. Behar, did an ordinary girl win Eurovision and I use the full weight of that word an ordinary 27-year-old girl with a song that didn’t carry heavy political messages, as you said? It wasn’t about showing off vocal power, nor a song about war or differences, but simply about young people who apparently want to live in their own world of Bangaranga, be happy, and dance.

Maksim: Dara is not an ordinary girl. She’s an artist we’ve worked with many times in our company and have followed for years. She is a complete performer and artist.

Host: I meant ordinary in the sense of a modest girl from a small country.

Maksim: It’s a huge opportunity that Europe and the world are paying attention to Bulgaria. Producers, directors, music professionals will come here. They’ll probably hire Bulgarian performers and give many of them a big start. As for a “House of Artists,” I don’t know exactly what that means. We’ll first have to hear from Dara herself what she envisions. There’s no “House of Journalists” or “House of Metallurgists” though maybe there is. Sofia is full of venues where artists and singers can gather whenever they want, and they already do. If there’s a Eurovision House, that would be great a place where amateurs can gather, rehearse, train, and perform. But that’s more of a construction topic: building a place and opening it. What’s more important is that we intelligently use every single moment when Bulgaria is being discussed in the world media and all these people are coming here. No unnecessary pompousness. Yes, we won Eurovision. A huge event, of course. But let’s show what Bulgaria truly has. What’s the most important thing in Bulgaria, Maria? The sea? Not the sea. The mountains? Not the mountains. I had this exact conversation with King Charles. The people. The people, yes. Let’s show the people. Let’s show the young people. I’ve told you many times nowhere in the world have I seen such a vast number of young, intelligent, capable, educated, motivated people as in Bulgaria. And when this whole caravan of foreigners comes here and says: “What kind of people are you in Sofia? We’d barely heard of you we thought it was the capital of Romania or Croatia,” then they’ll see the Bulgarian people. And I’m sure the positive effects will be mind-blowing.

Host: How kind and hospitable are we, Associate Professor Toms your thoughts on that?

Justine: We will show our hospitality, which I also have no doubt about, and which is famous in Bulgaria. I want to say that right now there isn’t a global media outlet that hasn’t reported on Dara’s song. The New York Times, The Guardian, even The Economist. BBC and CNN. Even Al Jazeera. We are truly in all the world media. It’s an incredible moment and for something positive. And I hope this song really unites us, and that even those who were skeptical will see what happened after the victory.

Host: And that’s exactly what Dara wished for as well for music to continue uniting us.

Maksim: First, let’s sober up a little.

Host: Ten seconds, quickly.

Maksim: Let’s calm the emotions and start thinking with a business mindset about how to “sell” Bulgaria to the world in the best possible sense of the word and show what we have. It will happen, guaranteed. The work ahead is serious, and we’ll see what we manage to achieve.

Host: We hope, as you say, Mr. Behar, that we will give our absolute best. Bulgaria will host Eurovision 2027. Thank you very much for this conversation.

You can watch the whole interview here.

Interview on Euronews Bulgaria

A historic night for Bulgaria. Dara’s Eurovision victory sparked a wave of emotions, pride, and enormous expectations for the future. Beyond being a musical success, it became a symbol of Bulgaria’s new place on the global stage. In the following conversation, the reactions after the triumph, the significance of the victory for the country, and what lies ahead are discussed.

Host: A huge victory. What is next now? First, how did this miracle happen? Because we know that Eurovision is not just a song contest, not just a singing competition, not just a contest for stage performance. It is very geopolitical.

Maxim: It seems that geopolitics did not play a role this time, because only those who vaguely understand what Eurovision is can realize that Dara was the winner from the very beginning. There was not a single marketing mistake. The song is, of course, a particularly good song. It is a very Eurovision-style song. Compared to many previous, I would say rather strange winners, it was clear that Dara was doing the best thing possible. And she achieved her success. We all witnessed how many circles of hell this girl went through.

Host: Yes, unfortunately. She showed remarkable mental strength because she was heavily shaken by all the criticism she endured.

Maxim: Yes, but that is normal. Such discussions happen in every country. Literally every single one. Usually, the groups or singers representing their countries have something different from the local folklore. They sing for the world. Just imagine everyone says things like: “Why isn’t she wearing a traditional costume? Why is she singing in English?” and all those things. Well, she sings for the world, she is not singing for the Golden Orpheus festival. Or for the center of Sofia, or the center of Gabrovo, or wherever. The song was wonderful. From a purely geopolitical perspective, this is the last step toward Bulgaria’s full integration into the European Union. Because we went through all the stages accession, before that NATO, then full EU integration, then Schengen, the Euro, and now we have Eurovision. This is the final dot, as they say, the last step. It is particularly good news. I don’t think we can compare it to the 1994 World Cup.

Host: The comparison with Bulgaria in 1994 in the United States fourth place keeps coming up.

Maxim: There is a comparison in the sense that none of us slept all night because of the emotions. But now that the emotions are fading, I realize that back in 1994 we were all incredibly happy. I have never seen a happier nation than Bulgaria back then. We all remember it, of course. You don’t understand you weren’t even born yet.

Host: I remember it, of course. For better or worse, I was alive. But that’s not the point. The point is that we remembered it again when the volleyball team also finished second at the European Championship. However, there was an enormous amount of criticism on social media over the past few days. You know very well that there were even people offended by the lyrics, by the messages, by claims that there were satanic elements or whatever. And did you watch Croatia’s performance afterward? Those beautiful girls who were singing. If that had been our entry, people here would probably have called them witches.

Maxim: But look, this is art. In the end, there will always be people who do not like it and others who do.

Host: The question is: how did everyone else like it while we tore it apart?

Maxim: No, that’s not true. There were many people in Bulgaria who liked it. But there was also a lot of criticism. Naturally, thank God. Because we cannot expect a work of art, or even just a song, even if it’s not some great masterpiece, to be liked by everyone. That’s not normal. The most important thing is this: why do I compare it to 1994? In 1994, our wonderful football team finished fourth, came home, received an incredible welcome and that was almost the end of it. Now something is happening in Bulgaria. And that something will be Eurovision 2027.

Host: I’m very curious how this will happen. But hold that thought, because Dara called on Sofia’s mayor, Vasil Terziev, to prepare a huge red carpet. Let’s watch more of her emotions.

DARA Statement

Maxim: So, the first important thing is that we will have Eurovision 2027 in Bulgaria. This is an exceptionally huge event. It means that for an entire year people in the media, in art circles, among performers, traders, and businessmen will talk only about this. About Bulgaria. For an entire year.

Host: Do we even have a venue where we can host it?

Maxim: Ah, I can’t judge that. Will it be in Arena Sofia? Probably. But still, in one year a wonderful venue can also be built. It’s possible if someone finds the funding. The second point is that the song itself was extremely well-crafted. From a marketing perspective which I can best judge as well as in the performance, the composition, the choreography, there was not a single mistake. The third thing that makes me incredibly happy personally is that Dara herself did not make a single mistake. Look at the way she reacted. She reacted super professionally. There were no emotional outbursts, no exaggerated “ohs” and “has,” no empty words. This girl was prepared to win Eurovision. And that is fantastic news. For me personally, this is also a personal victory, because in 2001 or 2002 three of us got together Martin Zahariev, who is a music producer, Toni Georgiev, our particularly good friend, an excellent journalist and photographer, and myself. We wrote an open letter to Bulgarian National Television. And while I was driving to the studio today, I remembered this detail. We sent that open letter insisting that Bulgaria should begin participating in Eurovision. Of course, from a purely marketing perspective so Bulgaria could have representation and people would talk about the country. And here we are. We achieved it.

Host: But now we see footage from this magnificent arena. The stage for the first time was 360 degrees and so on. Where are we going to host such a show?

Maxim: Well, Vasil Terziev has the floor on that one, of course. But on average, a country earns between 500 and 700 million euros in revenue from hosting Eurovision. I emphasize revenue, not pure profit. But for someone to come and generate five hundred million euros in revenue in Bulgaria no investor here would do something like that. That’s why, starting today, everyone at the Ministry of Culture must get involved. The Minister of Culture is an excellent producer and understands these things. He’s not just some political appointment. Secondly, we have a young and intelligent mayor, and I assume he will immediately become interested. But honestly, that is the smallest issue. I’m not saying it’s not a problem, but it’s the smallest one. The important thing is that we achieved enormous success. Dara carried this great victory for Bulgaria on her back. And now, for an entire year, everyone will be talking about it. People will come here. This is an unbelievable success.

Host: Alongside all the criticism we already talked about, there were also many people who supported Dara. And not only after seeing how well she performed in the semifinal, or now after the victory when everyone will praise her even those who criticized her before. Some people supported her from the very beginning. One of them was Lili Ivanova. Just five hours ago she wrote on Facebook: “A historic success for Bulgaria. Congratulations to the winner, the young and incredibly talented Bulgarian singer Dara. Dear Dara, I sincerely wish you many, many more successes. With all my respect, Lili Ivanova.”

Maxim: But don’t you know that Lili is the ultimate professional? Ruthless when it comes to quality. And she has such a big heart that there’s no way she wouldn’t support Dara. This was a highly professional product that was successfully sold abroad. Last night I was communicating with many of my friends around the world and telling them to vote. Especially in Malta, which gave the highest score. And we gave them twelve points in return. One of my friends is a very influential person in Malta. There are three major families there. I told him jokingly: “If all three families vote for Bulgaria, I promise many people will vote for Malta too.” Of course, it was a joke. Then he texted me saying: “Everything is arranged, don’t worry, we will vote.” So, there were tens, even hundreds of thousands of Bulgarians around the world convincing their friends. This means that Bulgaria has its place, its image, its influence among so many people worldwide, because there are around two million Bulgarians living abroad.

Host: Maybe they really did vote because there were many calls to support her. I also have many friends who have lived abroad for years.

Maxim: Of course. But those are two million ambassadors of Bulgaria. They have their own circles, offices, friends, and people who love them.

Host: And the song itself, compared to all the others, flowed so naturally.

Maxim: From the very first round it was clear that we were the best. I’m really happy everything worked out. But now the challenging work begins. Now we must prove that, as a country, we can organize a global event.

Host: Hopefully. Do we have specialists for all this? Because everyone will be watching us under a microscope. The standards there are incredibly high.

Maxim: If we’re talking about event organization, marketing, PR, advertising we have top specialists who compete with the best in Europe. And if we don’t have them, we will bring the best specialists.

Host: What awaits Dara in the next year? Because I personally cannot remember another year where both the jury vote and the public vote aligned so completely and so decisively in favor of one performer.

Maxim: I haven’t followed the differences between the two votes over the years, but in my opinion, Dara is about to become a global superstar. Think of Dua Lipa. A Dua Lipa who came from a relatively small Balkan country and became a worldwide phenomenon. I believe many major international producers will now focus on Dara. They will begin developing their career globally. And Dara will be known as Dara from Bulgaria.

Host: Hopefully, hopefully, hopefully this will be the breakthrough. It is already a breakthrough. I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. But the fact is that Dua Lipa was born and raised in the West and only has Balkan roots. While Dara is truly from Varna, Bulgaria. She studied folk singing and grew up entirely in Bulgaria. Could that hold her back? Or after Eurovision does everything change?

Maxim: Hold her back from what? A world career? She already has a world career. First. Second why would it hold her back? This is a wonderful opportunity for her. And it is particularly good for Bulgaria too. But now all of us need to forget our differences. Take a big marker and cross them all out. And tell us let’s make the best presentation possible. Bulgaria has never in its history had such a chance to present itself to the world. Especially now, when social media exists and there are incredible opportunities for the entire world to see that Bulgaria is full of young, intelligent, well-educated people.

Host: Something we also saw during the Giro d’Italia. Just a week ago they were in Sofia, before that on the seaside, then in Veliko Tarnovo. Another major event, a fantastic one. But this is much bigger.

Maxim: Exactly. Those events come and go. But here we have at least an entire year during which everyone will talk only about Bulgaria. And it depends on us-on-us Bulgarians how we present ourselves, how much we support Dara, how much we support everything happening in Bulgaria. Not only because of the money, which is significant, but because for the first time in our history we will have the opportunity to present our entire country. Everyone knows about the beaches, the mountains, Bansko, Pamporovo, and everything else. But few people know what Bulgarians are like. What kind of people are we? Because people are our greatest value. And I’m keeping my fingers crossed so that we will do well. I’m sure we will do well because usually, when we face great challenges, that’s when we are strong.

Host: Dara said earlier in the interview that now all eyes will be on Bulgaria, and that this is a chance for all artists and creators to show themselves to the world. Is that true?

Maxim: Absolutely true. Interest in Bulgarian culture will become much greater, especially in pop culture. Producers will come and probably search for other talented people singing here in Bulgaria. We know them, and there are many of them. They are incredibly talented. But when they meet global producers, when those producers prepare them and promote them on a world stage, naturally they have a much greater chance to succeed.

Host: What should Bulgaria do first now? The first three things to present ourselves well? I’m asking you as a marketing specialist and an expert in organizing major events.

Maxim: Just one thing. Bulgaria must clearly declare to the world that it is ready for Eurovision 2027.

Host: That became obvious from the very first second Dara stepped onto the stage. I don’t know where she found such strong yet stable confidence.

Maxim: She was prepared both to lose and to win. But now the Bulgarian government, Sofia Municipality, and all the institutions responsible must seriously declare that we are going to organize the best Eurovision ever held.

Host: Do we have the money for such a thing in a time of crisis? Prices are rising everywhere.

Maxim: We will earn ten times more than we invest. This is not an expense it is an investment. Of course, the money will be found. It simply must be done smartly and intelligently. And I would recommend involving more international experts and specialists who have organized similar events in other countries.

Host: Dara’s song involved many famous choreographers. And she was criticized for that?

Host: No, exactly the opposite. She absolutely should not be criticized. She should be encouraged to find the best people to help bring her this victory. Because this is teamwork. Yes, the whole team obviously did tremendous work. Dara is on the front line where she sings; she performs, she is an incredible artist. But there is a huge team behind her. And naturally there was major involvement from international experts. Such people should continue coming to Bulgaria. And once again, last night was a huge night. Today, because we didn’t sleep. We achieved remarkable success. We finally entered Europe completely and went through the grand entrance.

Host: Thank you very much for this first commentary on the topic, in the early morning hours after the Eurovision final and Dara’s victory, from Maxim Behar. Thank you very much for coming so early.

Maxim: We all love Dara just as much as we all love Bulgaria.

You can watch the whole interview here.