site.btaPresident Radev Rejects Accusations of Not Upholding Bulgaria's European Integration

Montana, Northwestern Bulgaria, April 20 (BTA) - President Rumen Radev Friday categorically rejected the accusations that he does not uphold Bulgaria's European integration. Radev said also that Bulgaria should not mislead its Euro-Atlantic partners that it is modernizing its armed forces while at the same time it is planning to cut the resources for this.

Radev's statement was in response to the words of GERB's Tsvetan Tsvetanov after Thursday's meeting of the Consultative Council on National Security concerning a draft position paper put up for discussion at the meeting. Tsvetanov said: "I wish the President's Office would provide the proposed position paper we had to discuss. If you take a look at the draft of this position paper, you will see that we were right in our conclusions that the President's Office with its team and what they put forward as a position paper - all we could do [if we had done what they asked] was come out and announce that we are beginning to take steps to leave the EU and NATO."

The President's Office immediately issued a statement calling Tsvetanov's remarks "manipulative" and made public the full text of the draft position paper.

Approached on Friday with a question whether he was looking for a conflict with the government, Radev said that he has always sought cooperation in the name of Bulgaria. The President said that his findings that the executive is not doing genuine work in some sector should not be interpreted as attempts at confrontation but as findings only.

Dwelling of allegations about a compromised election campaign before he was elected President, Radev said that his campaign "had been brought out in the light" long ago. "Everything can be checked up online," Radev said, adding that if anyone can be worried by their past, he is not such a person.

On Friday Radev visited Montana at the invitation of local resident Ivo Bogdanov who had been unfairly convicted in Greece, spent seven years in prison, and was released thanks to Radev's assistance.

Radev conferred with Montana Mayor Zlatko Zhivkov. The two discussed regional matters.