site.btaFinance Minister Vassilev Apologizes to Mariya Gabriel as Woman, Not as PM-Designate

Outgoing Finance Minister Assen Vassilev said in an interview for bTV here on Wednesday that he could offer an apology to Mariya Gabriel as a woman but not as a Prime Minister-designate. Gabriel demanded an apology on Wednesday after Vassilev called her "the beautiful face of the Mafia" on Tuesday night during a press conference given by Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB).

During the interview, Vassilev, who is also co-leader of Continue the Change, said: "If Mariya Gabriel felt offended in a personal capacity, I can apologize. In her capacity as a Prime Minister-designate, what she did is unacceptable." Vassilev referred to Gabriel's conversation with President Rumen Radev and said: "It would have been fair to tell the President that the [Cabinet] composition was not agreed. She announced it assuming that the composition was agreed, accepted. Such behaviour is unfair towards the Bulgarian people. As a Prime Minister-designate, her behaviour is unacceptable. She has proved to lack leadership, the ability to remain cool under great pressure [...]. I make no apologies to Prime Minister-designate Mariya Gabriel. To the woman Mariya Gabriel I do apologize, if she got offended."

The Minister of Finance also stated: "We [CC-DB] never left the negotiating table. GERB-UDF did. We did not understand why all the rush. The Constitution allows for a whole week." He said that Gabriel cannot and should not be prime minister of Bulgaria.

On Wednesday morning, GERB leader Boyko Borissov told reporters that the first thing that could bring GERB back to negotiations would be an apology, especially to Prime Minister-designate Gabriel.