site.btaPlevneliev: "As Head of State, I Have and Will Continue to Work for Stability"

Plevneliev: "As Head of State, I Have and Will Continue to Work for Stability"

New York, September 19 (BTA) - "Regardless of the results of the November 6 presidential elections, I hope that Bulgaria will remain stable and will manage to prepare well for the challenges posed by the Presidency of the European Union as from January 2018. "For six months, Bulgaria will be the locus of big politics in Europe. Sofia will concentrate the debate, as well as the making of responsible decisions on the EU's future in conditions of a record large number of crises," Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev told Bulgarians in New York, where he arrived on a working visit for the 71st Session of the UN General Assembly, his Press Secretariat said.

"As head of State, I have worked and will continue to work for stability. I hope that the presidential elections will help citizens receive broad representation. Each candidate must say how they intend to help the country's advancement," the President commented.

The head of State called on the expats to exercise their franchise in the forthcoming elections. "For his part, the president, in order to serve Bulgarians wherever they are in the world, should better get electoral support from our compatriots abroad. Then you will have the right to exact from him," Plevneliev said.

He recalled that working with Bulgarians worldwide is a cause that the presidential institution has taken up. "In difficult situations, I stood up for the voting rights of expatriate Bulgarians. I initiated a referendum that entirely served the interest of Bulgarians worldwide: you, too, are entitled to shape your homeland and to set the agenda. This can only happen by online voting," the head of State stressed.

The President pointed out that Bulgaria has never before been so active internationally and is being acknowledged accordingly. In 2016 alone, more than 25 heads of State are expected to visit the country, which is a significant factor in the Balkans and in the EU. "Wherever I am in the world, my first meetings have always been with fellow Bulgarians," the head of State recalled.

For a fifth year in a row, he has been a guest of the Bulgarian Consulate General in New York.

"Bulgaria's battle for the planet's top job, the position of UN Secretary-General, is exceedingly difficult and unpredictable at this point. We have a worthy candidate, and we are backing her in this hardest of all races," the President told the members of the Bulgarian community.

He said that he had honoured one of his key commitments: not to appoint collaborators of the communist secret services as Bulgarian ambassadors abroad.

Plevneliev also highlighted the strategic partnership between Bulgaria and the US and noted the progress of work of the bilateral joint working groups on key priorities, including energy, defence, and the rule of law.