site.btaUPDATED President Radev Comments on Refusal to Invite MRF - New Beginning to Consultations

"My actions are guided by the Constitution and respect for the rule of law and our Euro-Atlantic partners," President Rumen Radev said, answering whether he had violated the Constitution by not inviting representatives of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) - New Beginning to cabinet-forming consultations. Radev commented the issue before the start of the Sofia Doctor of the Year 2024 awards ceremony on Wednesday. 

"The talks will be held and the [exploratory government-forming] mandates will be handed over as per Article 99 of the Constitution", he added, clarifying that if there is any threat to the Constitution, "it does not come from not allowing compromised persons into the Presidency, but from their infiltration as metastasis into a number of other institutions".

"And it seems to be forgotten that the leader of this group has been sanctioned by two partner countries - the US and the UK, for "grand corruption" [a reference to MRF-New Beginning leader Delyan Peevski, who has been sanctioned for corruption by the US and the UK]. This is being forgotten by a number of other institutions, but not the President's, and it will not be forgotten either," the head of State added. 

President Radev has decided not to hold consultations with the parliamentary group of MRF - New Beginning, the head of State's press secretariat told BTA on Tuesday afternoon. Before this decision was announced, MRF - New Beginning leader Peevski told journalists that he personally would not go to consultations with the President but his party would honour the head of State's invitation out of respect for the presidential institution. Asked why he would not go personally, Peevski said that he makes the decisions for himself and "being the leader of MRF - New Beginning, I have the right to go as I please". However, on Wednesday, Peevski said that President Rumen Radev violated the Constitution "once again" by excluding his group in the new legislature from consultations with the parliamentary groups. Peevski also said that the head of State is to blame for "the disintegration of the country" and that the presidential administration is busy with putting together "Rumen Radev's new [political] project".

Radev also reacted to an allegation linking him to a group of Bulgarians who are being tried in London for spying for Russia. He said: "Any crook can mention my name in order to gain some personal benefits and push up the price they expect someone to pay." The President said he expects the competent Bulgarian authorities, who have been working actively with their British counterparts, to dispel the allegations linking his name to the trial of Bulgarian citizens in the UK.

Talking to the press earlier in the day, Atanas Atanassov MP of Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria said he had asked Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev if any actions had been taken with regard to a potential security breach, and about any information on the group's activities on Bulgarian territory and any links between the group and senior Bulgarian politicians. He quoted a story in The Times, which reported a couple of days ago that the spies boasted of having “strong relationships” at the top of the Bulgarian government including President Radev and former Socialist Party leader Korneliya Ninova.