site.btaVelichie Leader Mihaylov: You Cannot Implement Strong Foreign Policy without Strong Domestic Policy

Velichie (Grandeur) party leader Ivelin Mihaylov said on Wednesday that the motion of no-confidence in Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov's government is neither pro-Euro-Atlantic nor pro-Russian. "It is a motion against people who have no way of implementing a strong foreign policy in the absence of a strong domestic policy," he stated in the National Assembly debating chamber.

Velichie, along with MECh, co-sponsors the no-confidence motion introduced by Vazrazhdane over "the persistent failure of the Cabinet's foreign policy". The proposal was signed by 54 MPs of the three groups. The vote itself can take place at least 24 hours after the end of the debate and is expected to be held on Thursday.

Mihaylov said during the debate: "We are in a situation of pre-war conflict between the EU and Russia. As a member of the EU and NATO, Bulgaria should take care of the security of its citizens and its armed forces. At such a moment, a government that wants to implement a strong foreign policy should at least take care of its nuclear fallout bunkers, where the people could find safety if necessary." He noted that Russia is a nuclear power.

Mihaylov further commented: "If we try to pursue our foreign policy while being governed by people who risk imprisonment and other sanctions, these people will be clearly unable to make the best decisions for Bulgaria." He was apparently referring to MP Delyan Peevski, leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms – New Beginning, who has been sanctioned for corruption under the US Global Magnitsky Act. Some see Peevski as an often informal but powerful influence in Bulgarian politics and society.

Mihaylov argued: "No one from the outside will take us seriously when we have such a dirty, mafia-controlled, corrupt Establishment."