site.btaUPDATED Renew Europe MEP Kyuchyuk: Bulgaria Needs Pro-Western Government Dissociated from MP Peevski

Renew Europe Group / Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) MEP Ilhan Kyuchyuk said in an interview for the Bulgarian National Television on Sunday that Bulgaria should have a pro-Western government comprised of political forces that clearly dissociate themselves from the leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) - New Beginning, Delyan Peevski.

Kyuchyuk said: "For several months now we have been saying that the way the government should be constructed goes through the attitude of the political forces towards Delyan Peevski and his model. We have not set another condition." He added that the Alliance for Rights and Freedoms (ARF) was founded to stand in the parliamentary elections after "Peevski and his group's theft of our name".

Asked why the ARF supports Silvi Kirilov as GERB-UDF's nomination for Parliament Chair, Kyuchyuk said that his Alliance support Bulgaria having a functioning National Assembly. He added: "We do not vote with Vazrazhdane. We have clear red lines regarding Vazrazhdane. We would neither make a coalition with them nor support their strategic decisions for the country."

The MEP alleged that there is an ongoing endemic violation of democracy in Bulgaria, which leads to Bulgarians questioning the electoral process and the power of their own votes. He said: "When institutions have turned into one man's pocket money, we all need to come together and decide whether democracy is a priority or whether we are heading towards authoritarianism under one man's rule."

The rift in the Movement for Rights and Freedoms became apparent on July 11, 2024, when the parliamentary group decided to expel 17 MPs.