site.btaUPDATED President Radev: I Am Worried by This Unpopular Parliament Amending the Constitution

Commenting on Parliament's sitting on Friday, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev told reporters here on Sunday that he was worried that the current Parliament, in which citizens' representation is "critically low" and which enjoys "even lower public trust", would try to amend the Constitution.

Radev visited Serbia at the invitation of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic for the commissioning ceremony of the Bulgaria-Serbia Gas Interconnector.

The head of State said that there are critically important issues on which the legislature should focus instead. "And no impression should be left that the country's basic law is being used as an excuse for the raison d'etre of this coalition," he added, appearing to criticize the two biggest parliamentary groups: GERB-UDF and Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria.

Asked about his veto on the military aid to Ukraine, Radev said that the MPs should realize that their responsibility lies with the Bulgarian people the most, the people's security and quality of life, and not with other countries.

"I am curiously following President Radev's nervous conduct who has tried twice within a couple of weeks to misdirect Bulgaria’s Euro-Atlantic orientation by calling into question the legitimacy of the National Assembly. The President should better check again on his powers and stick to them," Movement for Rights and Freedoms Floor Leader Delyan Peevski said in a position circulated by his party’s press centre.

He argued that the Constitution purposefully provides for a separation of powers as a safeguard of the independence of Parliament and statehood against such interference. In his opinion, "the President resents the fact that Bulgaria will no longer be bogged down in the timelessness of his caretaker cabinets that led to political fluctuations and economic and social volatility. The amendments to the Constitution, on which the MPs showed political will and accord, will bring this shameful episode of our political history to an end, and its repeat will not be possible ever again," the position reads.

Peevski notes further that the need why this Parliament and this Government exist is prompted by Bulgaria’s responsibility to stay steady on its Euro-Atlantic path, and this is the guarantee that it will never set off eastward, to Moscow. In his words, Bulgaria needs political stability, a clear Euro-Atlantic affiliation and governance to the benefit of the people.