site.btaPM Denkov on Municipalities: Government Has Never Thought of Dividing along Party Lines, Will Not Do So

The government has never thought of dividing [municipalities] along party lines, and it will not do so, Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov at a forum "Municipalities Perspective 2027" (Government, local government, business), organized by the 24 Chasa media outlet. He pointed out that there is a fully partnership approach on the part of the executive. “You think long-term according to what is the leading idea, no matter who will implement it,” the Prime Minister stressed.

Denkov congratulated the new mayors  for their success in the local elections and noted that among them there are people with experience and ambitions, who will bring new ideas.

He also commented on decentralization, as he pointed out that it sounds very easy to implement to anyone who has not dealt with the topic. “You leave 20% of the taxes that are paid to the individual municipality and everything is fine, there is decentralization. But a very simple calculation shows that this would be disastrous for most of the municipalities in Bulgaria, because some of them have natural advantages and the idea of having a distribution allows us to look for that cohesion that should raise the quality of life of all citizens,” Denkov explained.

The Prime Minister underlined that the availability of financial resources is not enough. In his words, decisions should be transparent and motivated.

At the beginning of the forum in a video address, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Iliana Ivanova said that local authorities are closest to the people, which is why the European Commission values dialogue with European municipalities. She noted that a significant part of European funding is dedicated to regional development and cohesion. This money will support economic, social cohesion and EU projects, Ivanova said.