Bulgaria Needs New Model of Social State - Vice President

Bulgaria still lags far behind its the mode of stability and a social state ruled by the law, Vice President Margarita Popova said on Thursday.

In a joint annual address with President Rosen Plevneliev, she insisted Presidency should work toward the unity of Bulgarians and should focus on their problems, what has and what needs to be done.

Popova cited examples of what the Presidency should carefully oversee: "What we have done to establish the social state ruled by the law, what percentage of the population today are poor people, how many are excluded from society, if healthcare and education are being commercialized," Popova said in the address aired by the Bulgarian National Television.

Complementing the President's remarks about the post-Communist transition which in his words did not bring about a change of elites, the Vice President said "new elites should come who know what it means to establish a model of the social state based on values and to guarantee that a vast part of [the] nation has rights it can make use of. For 25 years of transition we have not achieved that."

She lashed out at "prominent politicians" who rejected "the multicultural model of communication," in an apparent reference to the migrant crisis and ideas that Europe should not accept any migrants.

Asked by a journalist whether she would run for President, in the wake of this autumn's election, she said: "I haven't thought about this. I have my system of values and a plan which [is not limited to] the end of 2016. We will see."

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