site.btaUPDATED Yes, Bulgaria to Apply for Membership in European People's Party, Set Up Programming Board with Coalition Partners
![Yes, Bulgaria to Apply for Membership in European People's Party, Set Up Programming Board with Coalition Partners](/upload/5158558/1000129016-01.jpeg?l=1000)
![Yes, Bulgaria to Apply for Membership in European People's Party, Set Up Programming Board with Coalition Partners](/upload/5158558/1000129016-01.jpeg?l=1000&original=)
Yes, Bulgaria will apply for membership in the European People's Party (EPP), the 3rd National Conference of Yes, Bulgaria decided here on Saturday. A resolution was adopted to that effect.
A total of 533 delegates voted in favour of joining the EPP, 36 backed an application to the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), and 45 supported the proposal Yes, Bulgaria to not join any political family.
In his address to the delegates, Yes, Bulgaria leader Hristo Ivanov called for membership in the EPP, of which the formation's coalition partners from Democrats for Strong Bulgaria (DSB) are also members.
The other Bulgarian parties in the EPP are GERB and UDF.
Yes, Bulgaria is part of the Democratic Bulgaria right-wing coalition together with the DSB and the Green Movement. Established in April 2018, Democratic Bulgaria is now part of the Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria parliamentary group, which is the second biggest group in the National Assembly and part of the ruling majority together with GERB-UDF.
The 3rd National Conference of Yes, Bulgaria also adopted a resolution on Democratic Bulgaria's organizational development and strengthening. The coalition needs to be upgraded in terms of organization and programme so as to guarantee the representation of the democratic community's interests and the effective participation of centre-right supporters in the country's governance, the document reads. This upgrade should go hand in hand with the creation of a long-term national agenda on Bulgaria's development that takes the new realities into view.
To that end, regular general assemblies will be held betwen the coalition parties' bodies. Yes, Bulgaria's leadership will hold talks with the parties within Democratic Bulgaria on the creation of a Programming Board, which in the next one year will elaborate a long-term programme on secure, free and modern Bulgaria that meets the new challenges, threats and opportunities facing Bulgaria and the world from centre-right positions. As a partner of Democratic Bulgaria, the Continue the Change party will be invited to participate in the discussions on the programme.
When creating the Board and establishing its practices, the parties will take into view the experience gained in Democratic Bulgaria's Governance Alternative format. The Board will have representatives of the parties within Democratic Bulgaria, experts, and citizens, the resolution reads.
After the 3rn National Conference, Yes, Bulgaria Executive Council member Nadezhda Yordanova said that Continue the Change has been invited to join the Programming Board. "It is a matter of judgment, we expect them to join the debates," she noted. A wide circle of experts will also be invited to the Board.
Asked whether this is a step towards merging Yes, Bulgaria and DSB, Yordanova said: "This is a step towards better functioning of Democratic Bulgaria, because must ensure a better and more adequate representation of the democratic and Right-thinking people."
/DS/
Additional
news.modal.image.header
news.modal.image.text
news.modal.download.header
news.modal.download.text
news.modal.header
news.modal.text