site.btaGERB Deputy Leader Tsvetanov: President Radev Seeks Confrontation Between Institutions

Lovech, North Central Bulgaria, November 11 (BTA) - GERB deputy leader and floor leader Tsvetan Tsvetanov on Saturday said that President Rumen Radev is seeking confrontation between institutions which is unacceptable. Tsvetanov was speaking to the media in Lovech where he unveiled a conference on the 100th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia and its effects on Bulgaria. His statement was in response to a Friday interview of President Radev on the Panorama show of the Bulgarian National Television.

In the interview Radev said: "Unfortunately I have a sense that the majority of Bulgarians harbour hopes for a new change which will do away with the deficiencies of the transition period: theft, corruption, poverty, crime, lawlessness and lack of impunity. These are the very things which drove away 2 million Bulgarians." However according to Radev today in many aspects democracy is in retreat.

Radev spoke of the shocks in the healthcare sector, about the plans of the government to revise the Privatization Act and other political topics.

He said that there are still politicians for whom the reconciliation of the nation will mean an end to their political business. The big issues today are corruption, and the morals and ambitions of statesmen. Radev added that the war against the presidency has often mobilized the institutions. "You see that an entire parliamentary committee was used to discredit me but the authors of this campaign apparently underestimated the Bulgarian citizens."

Of a recent refusal of Bulgarian airmen to fly patrol missions which was criticized by Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, Radev said: " The actions of the pilots are not a whim but a desperate message to the authorities," referring to the current operational capabilities of the Bulgarian Air Force.

In Lovech Tsvetanov said: "We are doing everything possible to become leaders in the Balkans and I did not see the President acknowledge that as holder of the highest representative office in the country. Perhaps he is jealous of what Prime Minister Boyko Borissov does and this makes him uncomfortable and he is deliberately seeking confrontation," said Tsvetanov.

He said that the President should be cooperative and all politicians in Bulgaria should back 'the centre forward' Boyko Borissov as he is recognized for his role to validate much better Bulgaria in the European Union and on the international scene.

In Lovech Tsvetanov dwelled on the consequences of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution for Bulgaria, the Balkans and Eastern Europe. "The Bolshevik Revolution had very negative implications for Bulgaria's future," said Tsvetanov.