site.btaBulgaria's National Interest Is to Be Part of EU, Eurozone, Says Continue the Change Co-Chair

The national interest of Bulgaria is for the country to be in the European Union and to be part of the eurozone, said Continue the Change Co-Chair Assen Vassilev during the debates on the vote of no confidence against the government of Rosen Zhelyazkov.

The motion was submitted by the Vazrazhdane parliamentary group under the pretext that the government had failed in its foreign policy. The motion is supported by the signatures of 54 MPs from MECh, Velichie, and Vazrazhdane.

Vassilev pointed out that for these national interests of Bulgaria, namely membership in Schengen and the eurozone, Continue the Change has taken enormous political damage and lost half of its voters. He emphasized that the party cannot support a vote of no confidence that is about Bulgaria's foreign policy, specifically about determining Bulgaria's direction towards more EU integration or outside of the EU.

"Bulgaria's place is in the EU, not in BRICS, and that is clearly Bulgaria's national interest", Vassilev stressed, addressing the MPs from Vazrazhdane. He pointed out that Bulgaria has a better GDP per capita ratio than all of the countries in BRICS and that the minimum wage in the country is twice as much as that of Russia and the average wage 30% more than in Russia. "If we talk about where people live better, they live better in Bulgaria and in the EU. That is why all Bulgarians emigrate to the EU, and not to Russia," Vassilev emphasized. He also added that the average life expectancy in Russia in lower than in Bulgaria.

"We will demand a vote of no confidence [against the government of Rosen Zhelyazkov] the moment after Bulgaria receives a date for joining the eurozone. Because this government is pursuing an economic policy that is harmful to the country and it is covering up corrupt practices, which is harmful to the development of Bulgaria," Vassilev pointed out.