NEWS

Establishing infringements must be based on documents with a calm debate and not on the practices of an African tribe, Mr. Rumen Radev stated before the Bulgarian National Radio 

 

The most important immediate task is strengthening the statehood, which requires decisive actions and goes through fair elections, neutralising those acting behind the scenes who have accumulated huge resources, as well as through strengthening the rule of law, cutting theft and including citizens more actively in the governance of the state, declared President Rumen Radev in an interview for the Sunday 150 show on the Bulgarian National Radio.

 

The Head of State explained that the Message for a New Bulgaria he and Vice President Iliana Iotova presented at the beginning of this year represents their visions on the subject of how to strengthen statehood. “We are entering yet another campaign where we will have all sorts of promises – of social activities, and of economic models. Unless we strengthen statehood, all kinds of new political configurations, all kinds of future social and economic models will be doomed to fail, as did all the previous ones,” Mr. Rumen Radev stated. He maintains that we must build a strong foundation for public relations in the country – between institutions themselves, and between institutions and citizens, which future governments should confidently use as a foundation and develop their policies. 

 

My policy is clear – strengthening statehood, and that passes through neutralising the oligarchy that has accumulated huge resources, Mr. Rumen Radev further said. He added that this could not happen at once, as it concerns illegally accumulated resources from public funds over many years and in complete collaboration with the previous leadership. The President emphasised that power has been in the hands of Boyko Borissov for 11 years now, and if the former Prime Minister has set out to blame anybody for the coalescence of business and government, then he must look at the oligarchy around him.

 

“Our country has great potential – wonderful natural resources, honest and decent young people, but what we have not had so far are adequate institutions to give people the opportunity to develop their potential here, in Bulgaria,” the President added. Mr. Rumen Radev stated that the existing risk of expropriation of business is not in the interest of society – “be it by the State, political or business circles around those in power, as well as when there is interference in the work of regulatory authorities, when the judicial system cannot protect business to develop fairly and openly, and legislation is unpredictable.”

 

“If there are people in power with drawers full of euros and gold, this means there are also thugs,” Mr. Rumen Radev further stated and added that if it is true, then the money is not from a wage, but “someone should be racketeered to fill up the drawer.” If the Prosecutor’s Office, the State Agency for National Security and the Financial Supervision Commission are being sent to “smash in the faces” of inconvenient businessmen, then there are thugs, he further declared. The President said that those whose outcries of “revanchism”, “dictatorship” and “purges” and who are worried about shedding light on the true state of the country fear their abuse will surface, that the flows of public finances they have taken advantage of so far with complete impunity will be deflected from them, and most of all, they fear the holding of fair elections. “We must deliver ourselves from the feeling that there are people subscribed to power. For this we need the systematic efforts of our entire society,” Mr. Rumen Radev mentioned. He said that media also has an important role in this process. “There cannot be any democracy and economic prosperity without free media,” the President added.

 

“Those in power so far are used to having the Prosecutor’s Office guarantee their impunity,” the Head of State said, raising the question of how decisive actions could be expected from a Prosecutor’s Office that is deafeningly silent regarding the information of full drawers and millions of public funds, spent with no transparency. “The regime is collapsing and the Bulgarian Prosecutor’s Office faces a serious dilemma – whether to start working in the interest of society or be dragged down with this collapsing regime into oblivion,” the Head of State declared. He expressed his certainty that Bulgaria has many decent and capable prosecutors who should be given a chance to start a real fight against corruption.

 

It would be an illusion to think that in two months a revision could be made, as stipulated in law, of a 10-year government with a rich base to be checked. He emphasised that neither he, nor the Caretaker Prime Minister had used the word “revision”. “The moment the protests started, different alerts of carrying out, forging and destroying documents were received. The aim is to achieve transparency, which is difficult even in a favourable administrative environment,” Mr. Rumen Radev stated. The President said that establishing infringements must be based on documents with a calm debate and not “with active hushing up with the practices of an African tribe, clattering and shouting,” as happened in Parliament. If such documents were uncovered, I would expect the respective beneficiaries of the large loans be invited to explain, declared Mr. Rumen Radev and gave the example of the large loans, handed out by the Bulgarian Development Bank, as well as the public funds used to build motorways and repair dams. “Bulgarians have the right to know who operates with their money. For example, the large beneficiaries of the Bulgarian Development Bank, which by law is a bank for developing the small, medium and family businesses, let us see what they have invested the money in and how they contribute to our economic development,” Mr. Rumen Radev added. 

 

The active participation of the Bulgarian defence industry will strengthen the capabilities of the EU and NATO, said Iliana Iotova at a meeting with the NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General Alexus Grynkewich

Statement by Head of State Iliana Iotova

For projects aimed at improving connectivity between Bulgaria and Turkiye must be viewed as a whole, to be successful, and within the context of closer cooperation in Southeastern Europe. This will bolster both economic development and security in the region, whose strategic importance is growing. This was stated by President Iliana Iotova at a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who is on a formal visit to Bulgaria.

Albulena Haxhiu expressed her gratitude to President Iotova for Bulgaria’s support on Kosovo’s path toward membership in NATO and the European Union.