site.btaRuling Coalition Reacts to No-confidence Motion, President's Criticism

Sofia, June 13 (BTA) - President Rumen Radev will take advantage of any situation to position himself politically, said GERB and the United Patriots, the two partners in the ruling coalition, at a joint news briefing in Parliament on Tuesday. They also criticized the head of state for trying to set sectoral policies off against each other at a time of a tragedy.

Earlier, speaking in the aftermath of military helicopter crash, President Radev said that by pursuing political interests politicians endanger the lives of Bulgarian servicemen.

GERB floor leader Tsvetan Tsvetanov said that his aim was to cause political tension.

Of the pending no-confidence vote in the government in respect of security, Tsvetanov said that the Bulgarian Socialist Party and President Radev cannot be an alternative to the incumbent government as the Left had no moral right to speak of national security given that under their term the rates of contraband and abductions were much higher.

Defence Minister Krassimir Karakachanov said that since the 1990s defence expenditures have been reduced constantly which has led to a poorer level of combat preparedness. Karakachanov said that Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov showed understanding when it came to defence expenditures.

United Patriots co-floor leader Volen Siderov called the vote of no-confidence in the government "a prose poetry", adding that the subject of security did not involve the failure of a single machine.

Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov said that the incumbents are puzzled by the constant attempts to imply that the incumbent government is unsuccessful and that public funds are wasted. "No one can fire this government with an interview," said Goranov.