Talking to journalists in Parliament's lobby on Friday, GERB leader Boyko Borissov said that he was outraged by Defence Minister Todor Tagarev's statement earlier in the day about the project for modernizing the Land Forces and the purchase of new Stryker armoured vehicles.
On bTV's morning show, Tagarev expressed the hope that the project for new armored vehicles will pass in Parliament soon, as it is very important that the contract is concluded and operational this year. "If we wait for MPs to come back after the elections and then start the debates in the plenary hall, there is a risk that we will not succeed with the procedures, because there has to be a signing of a treaty and it has to come back for ratification as an intergovernmental treaty, which will take time" Tagarev explained.
This week, the project received support from both the Defence Committee and the Budget and Finance Committee. The debate in the plenary hall is coming up, where a final decision on the matter has to be taken.
Borissov commented further that he and parliamentary Defence Committee Chair Hristo Gadzhev listered to the interview and were outraged by what Tagarev said. “Everything defence-related that has happened in Parliament is the result of our signatures. We have a very clear schedule for the Strykers: we should finalize the procedure by December. It does not make him [Tagarev] look good to make such statements,” the GERB leader said.
Gadzhev commented that the armoured vehicles project can be finalized on time before the offer expires on December 15. If this government is as effective as the caretaker one, things can happen on time, he added.
Delyan Peevski MP of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) commented that if Tagarev demands something from the National Assembly, he should tender his resignation immediately. “Tagarev cannot demand anything from Bulgaria’s Parliament. He can table [a proposal], the committees can review it and Parliament can evaluate. Ministers cannot demand anything from Parliament regardless of the occasion,” Peevski said, adding that as an MP, he can make demands because he has personally cast his vote for the Cabinet.
Ivelin Parvanov MP of Vazrazhdane said that his parliamentary group does not consider it fatal if the deal on the armoured vehicles “is delayed for, say, two to three months”, because the vehicles do not have an expiration date. The purchase of armoured vehicles for the Land Forces has been delayed by six years already, he recalled.
