site.btaVazrazhdane Will Raise at EU Level Issue of Referendum on Keeping Bulgarian Lev - MEP Rada Laykova

In her first interview with the Bulgarian News Agency on Wednesday, MEP Rada Laykova (Vazrazhdane/Europe of Sovereign Nations) said that the Bulgarian public had been denied the opportunity to have their say in a referendum on keeping the Bulgarian lev so the issue will raised at the EU level. Laykova added that it will soon be addressed on behalf of the new group in the European Parliament she is part of.

The Bulgarian MEP was adamant that they will not back Ursula von der Leyen's bid for re-election as European Commission President, describing her as failed politician.

Laykova said that her group's main task will be to show the public what is really happening in the European Parliament.

She stressed that Vazrazhdane is among the founders of the newly-founded Europe of Sovereign Nations group, which they are part of, adding that the party had been working on establishing a new, truly conservative group in the European PArliament since last year.

Following is the full text of the interview with Rada Laykova:

What do you make of this plenary session as a first-time MEP?

Thank you for this question. In this case, we can see that despite the strong representation of the conservative parties, the status quo parties will unfortunately keep their majorities in the European Parliament. And our task here is going to be very challenging, because we want to show what is really happening in the European Parliament and the European Union outside the cliché of the parties of the establishment that still dominate this discourse, as we saw today.

You are part of the newly formed parliamentary group here. What made you take such a decision?

It is important to note that we are among the founders of this group. Vazrazhdane have been working to create a truly conservative group in the European Parliament since last year, when we started bilateral talks with our European partners, including European countries outside the European Union. Because it is important to stress that Europe does not equal the European Union.

Europe is a civilization, a culture, a history of which we are part, and that is why we have contacts with parties and political actors from other European countries. The parliamentary group that we have founded, Europe of Sovereign Nations, will introduce a qualitatively new discourse in Parliament. We are one of the founders, both on a practical level and ideologically, because the declaration we created and signed in Sofia on April 12, the Sofia declaration, was recognized as the ideological foundation of our new group.

The fact that an MEP from the Vazrazhdane party, Mr. Stoyanov, became a vice chair of this new parliamentary group is a clear indication of our key role in it.

Do you feel other parties are keeping their distance? Considering you are a eurosceptic party?

We are actually a party that really loves and champions the real Europe, Europe with its history, Europe for the citizens, and the policies that are enshrined in our programmes. We are ready to discuss them and do what is best for the Bulgarian people in contact with other political parties.

What are your goals for the next five years?

First of all, I think that we should have very good communication with the Bulgarian public, our voters. We will put whatever gets voted on here on the agenda of the Bulgarian society, because I think it is high time that imposed directives, the laws that we are presented with - and by the way, we can only comply with them, our national parliaments do not get to vote on them - this change of legislative responsibility to Brussels away from the nation is reflected in communication. So we hear about Brussels a few months before the elections. This will change with Vazrazhdane because we will be the voice of our voters, of the Bulgarian citizens, and of their interests here. So I consider it my task to inform people and urge them to make their own judgement about the important initiatives that affect our country and originate here, in Brussels.

We have already begun by preparing our resolution, our initiative to preserve the Bulgarian lev. You know that Vazrazhdane initiated a referendum in Bulgaria. The Bulgarian people were denied the opportunity to vote in this referendum, so we are taking the issue to the EU level. And very soon, we will address this issue on behalf of our parliamentary group here.

And what is your communication with the rest of the Bulgarian MEPs like, and how do you plan on working together for the common future of Bulgaria?

I convinced that every single Bulgarian patriot and Bulgarian representative of our citizens must hold dear our country, its interests, and first and foremost the protection of policies that directly affect Bulgaria. So we are open to communication with other Bulgarian MEPs. Our delegation has already held such a meeting. We will put forward this initiative for the Bulgarian public to have their say, so the Bulgarian delegation can stand behind it.

Do you think the political instability in our country will affect your work here?

Political instability is a reflection of what has been happening in the last few years, but we are not afraid of new elections. We clearly see that no government can be formed that will protect the interest, which is stability in Bulgaria. So we will see what happens in the fall, but our work here will continue with or without this stability.

I have one last question. The vote on the election of the President of the European Commission will take place tomorrow. What are your thoughts on Ursula von der Leyen’s bid? Will you back her?

I would like to tell you that I am getting a great many messages from citizens, not only Bulgarian citizens, but citizens from the entire European Union, asking us not to support Mrs. Von der Leyen’s bid. I had worked in Germany, in the German Bundestag, for six years, and having seen the real opinion of the German public, I can tell you quite frankly that she is a failed politician in her own country, Germany. That’s the opinion of German citizens. This is a politician who is being investigated by the European Public Prosecution Office, who has been discredited by a great many deals and by everything that we want to change in the European Union, so we are certainly not going to back this candidacy.