NEWS

I have always been led by the criteria of competence, decency, professionalism and most of all responsibility for the future of Bulgaria, while selecting ministers, the Head of State declared

 

The caretaker government presents a model for exiting the muddle that Bulgaria is in. What happened in the 45th National Assembly should serve as a lesson to all parties on the eve of the new campaign. I hope the parties demonstrate wisdom and responsibility following the elections and form a government, said President Rumen Radev in an interview for the Sunday 150 show on the Bulgarian National Radio. The Head of State added that it is not good for Bulgaria to jump from elections to elections and not have a parliament, since a Parliamentary Republic relies precisely on parliament as its main state authority.

 

In response to one of the questions, the President stated that he does not avoid responsibility in the forming of the caretaker government. “I have always been led by the criteria of competence, decency, professionalism and most of all responsibility for the future of Bulgaria. This is what I was looking for in selecting ministers, regardless of their political affiliations,” the President declared. He thanked the ministers of the caretaker government for agreeing to stand up with their reputation and to take responsibility in this difficult situation. “Fear has not yet loosened its grip. The people who have been dismissed from power still have all the financial and authority mechanisms, as the entire administration was appointed by these people in power for years,” the Head of State warned.

 

The most powerful type of leadership is to delegate powers. I have delegated my tasks to the caretaker ministers and they have the freedom of carrying out their tasks, the President replied to the question of whether he will influence the work of the ministers. He added that he has worked with most of the caretaker ministers and is well aware of their professionalism. 

 

The President emphasised that the caretaker government has several important problems accumulated before it, and the difficult task is to meet the expectations of people, as the past government refused to submit a budget update. “This cabinet’s hands are tied; it has so much work to do, to research, analyse, and seek new opportunities. This overwhelms it,” said the Head of State.

 

The former government abdicated from submitting to the EU the Recovery and Sustainability Plan, which is extremely important to the future of Bulgaria, the President reiterated. This puts the caretaker government in an extremely difficult situation, because in just days the entire publicly inaccessible information on the Plan must be analysed and a decision must be made on whether it should be submitted in its current form and for all the liability with the caretaker government, or to look for a way for it to be updated. The Head of State assured that a team of experts has been mobilised to this end. 

 

The Recovery and Sustainability Plan is the work of professionals that must be respected because it includes some very valuable projects, but it must be considered in its entirety, Mr. Rumen Radev added and gave the example of building rehabilitation, which in his words is a useful, but unjust programme. “If we spend 1 billion Bulgarian leva annually on rehabilitation, every Bulgarian home will be rehabilitated in 40 to 50 years. Many people might not be around by then,” the President warned. He reiterated the presidency’s proposals under the Plan, developed by a team of experts, including some of the ministers in the caretaker government. “We must strive not towards absorbing funds, but towards modernising the country, based on cutting-edge global technologies and investment in human capital, mostly in education and healthcare,” the President said and added that the goal is to accelerate the country’s economic growth.

 

The Head of State gave the example of two of the projects the presidential institution proposed: the creation of a National Monitoring, Control and Management Centre and the introduction of a Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS). The President explained that it is necessary not only for saving lives in mountains or following car accidents. “Thousands of Bulgarians perish annually from heart attacks and strokes due to the incapacity of providing aid in the golden hour. With such projects, citizens will be able to see that there is a state and that it cares for them,” the President stated. He pointed out that the Monitoring, Control and Management Centre will provide real-time data to state institutions, non-governmental organisations and citizens alike on the conditions of all water reserves in the country, the entire environmental picture, illegal constructions and barbaric felling, which will also lead to a change in management quality. The Head of State indicated that the value of the two projects is estimated at just 80 and 30 million Bulgarian leva respectively, whereas 2 billion Bulgarian leva of the 12 billion Bulgarian leva grant has been envisaged for building rehabilitation.

 

Two months are a brief period, but with young people and visionaries in the caretaker cabinet I would like to send a signal. We need decisiveness and ambition for reforms, the Head of State announced and gave the example of the youngest representative in the caretaker government, Mr. Atanas Pekanov, who has been working on analysing the plans of different European countries for a long time. “We can adopt winning models and develop much quicker as a society,” the President stated.