site.btaGovernment Ministers Propose Position in Support of Hungary in EU

122 POLITICS - COUNCIL OF MINISTERS - POSITION - HUNGARY

Government Ministers Propose
Position in Support of Hungary
in EU


Sofia, September 19 (BTA) - At a news briefing at the Council of Ministers on Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Krassimir Karakachanov said the Council of Ministers will start a procedure for drawing up a position of Bulgaria for the relevant configurations of the Council of the European Union to show that Bulgaria does not support the proposal of the European Parliament of September 12, 2018 calling on the EU Council to launch a procedure against Hungary pursuant to Article 7(1) of the Treaty on European Union.

Karakachanov explained that Part of the ministers of the United Patriots quota, together with Deputy Prime Minister Valeri Simeonov and Environment and Water Minister Neno Dimov, tabled a proposal at a Cabinet meeting earlier in the day concerning Bulgaria's position on the European Parliament resolution on sanctions against Hungary, and the Cabinet adopted this proposal.

Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said in Salzburg where he is attending an informal EU summit meeting, that there was no item on the agenda of the government's meeting that concerned the possible sanctions against Hungary. The Prime Minister said, as quoted by his press office, that the matter "has been discussed only at an operational meeting of the government and the results there are not legally binding. "Simeonov and Karakachanov put forward for discussion a proposal that if one day, two years from now, such a decision is made against Hungary, we, as government, should stand up against this decision and particularly the part for stripping it of its vote. Nothing dramatic has happened and nothing was decided," said Borissov.

He added that "maybe Hungary needs to revise its policies in some areas".

At the news briefing Karakachanov argued that the policy of Hungary concerns the sovereign right of each State to amend its legislation and pursue a policy of its own. "If any political group in the European Parliament does not like this, this is a problem of that group and not a problem of the sovereign State," the Deputy PM stressed. He takes exception to "attempts to reduce to a minimum the sovereignty of Member States and to transfer this sovereignty to other institutions."

Simeonov said for his part that "a repressive action, which does not rest on arguments, is being taken against Hungary". In his words, today's Council of Ministers decision is motivated by Bulgaria's close ties with Hungary, as well as by the lack of serious legal or any other grounds whatsoever for the imposition of sanctions against Hungary.

Karakachanov even compared the EU procedure to the Soviet invasion in Hungary in 1956.

Dimov emphasized that the countries of Central and Eastern Europe share similar problems and each one of them separately is a similar target, but they could stand their ground together. He recalled Bulgaria support for Hungary's initiative against the Large Combustion Plants Directive, as well as joint initiatives with Romania. "In this way we can stand up for our interests within the large European family," the Environment Minister added. RQ/LG