Bulgaria’s PM has No Doubt that May 24 is the most Suitable Day for a National Holiday, replacing March 3

Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov

"For me, May 24 has always been the brightest holiday that unites us all. For myself, I have no doubt that May 24 is the most suitable day for a national holiday". This was said by Prime Minister Academician Nikolay Denkov, who returned from a one-day visit to Greece.

"Whoever wants can present additional arguments", said Denkov. According to him, there is no group in society that would object to May 24 being a bright holiday for everyone. "It's a holiday that doesn't just stare at the past, but makes the transition from the past to the future in an extremely harmonious way", he said.

He believes that the change in the Constitution should be taken with a very large majority and the people's representatives represent their voters, which is representative of the opinion of the people in Bulgaria.

WCC-DB announced a draft of constitutional changes, they propose that May 24 be a national holiday

"We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria" presented their project for constitutional changes.

Among the proposals is that the national holiday of Bulgaria be celebrated on May 24, with the day being renamed "Day of the Bulgarian language, education and culture, and Cyrillic alphabet". The other main focus is the restructuring of the judiciary.

The co-chairman of the DB Hristo Ivanov explained that the project is the result of long-term efforts of the democratic community, and in recent months the texts have been discussed at various levels in the parliament with GERB and DPS.

"It is a bill that addresses three major issues - the core of which is the necessary restructuring of the judiciary and the governance model by dividing the Supreme Judicial Council and limiting the unchecked power of the Attorney General."

The main proposals are:

• change of the date of the national holiday - May 24;
• term of office of mayors of municipalities;
• separation of the SJC and the Council of Judges and Prosecutors;
• reducing the mandate of the Prosecutor General and limiting his powers;
• introduction of a standard for the selection of regulatory and control bodies;
• changing the status of official offices;
• possibility of filing an individual constitutional complaint by every citizen.

Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov pointed out that May 24 is a date that unites.

"We tried to find a holiday that unites. May 24 is just such, to find another reason to feel part of a community. Another feature of May 24 is that, on the one hand, it brings a sense of pride for what we have achieved historically. On the other hand, it is unique because it takes us from the past to the future. It is a celebration of the Bulgarian word, enlightenment, culture and the Cyrillic alphabet as a spiritual enlightenment that we have given to the world."

Hristo Ivanov explained that a change is also being considered to Article 3 of the Constitution - "The official language in the republic is Bulgarian", by adding a reference to the work of the holy brothers Cyril and Methodius and the Bulgarian revivalists.

"This gives us the opportunity to look at the Bulgarian state not as a coincidence, but as a cause. I am happy that we can say this," said the co-chairman of DB.

None of the other public holidays will change their status, the Prime Minister said.

Ninova: Changing March 3 to May 24 will divide society

"The idea of constitutional change has gone sour". This was stated in Varna by BSP leader Kornelia Ninova on the occasion of the proposal to make May 24 a national holiday of Bulgaria.

According to her, this proposal is a false start to the process of constitutional changes.

"This is apostasy through the highest law in the country - the Constitution. This is an additional reason for the division of Bulgarian society, for pitting one group of Bulgarians against another. This majority, which proposes this change, has no legitimacy for such a deep and essential change in the basic law of the country, not to mention that it is full of proposals that are a demonstration of legal illiteracy," said Kornelia Ninova.

Meeting with the Greek Prime Minister

Denkov described the talks with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis as constructive and positive.

"What was important for our country is to see how much we can get involved in the concessions of the ports of Kavala and Alexandroupolis," he said.

"With regard to Kavala, the Greek side is about to sign a contract with the concessionaire and it is clearly stated that Bulgaria is included in this contract. The starting point for negotiations is Bulgaria's 20% participation, regardless of the liquefied gas terminals. There will be developments on this topic in the coming months.

Regarding the port in Alexandroupolis, the concession was suspended a few months ago, but Mitsotakis said that options are being considered and if a procedure is opened by the end of the year, Bulgaria will have the opportunity to declare its interest.

Regarding the gas connections, we are working hard to increase the intensity of the gas that can be supplied by installing additional compressor stations and so that Bulgaria can be supplied and gas can be supplied to neighboring countries to the north and west of us", said Denkov.

Between the two prime ministers, the topic of the railway lines to Kulata and Svilengrad was also touched upon, which would allow more cargo to be transported to Greek ports.

"Greece has expressed interest in the expansion of Chiren - it wants to keep a certain part of the capacity and, for a fee, to keep the additional volumes that are currently provided. Interest has also been requested in the development of the Kozloduy NPP in the preparation of the new reactors - to be involved either as investors or by concluding long-term contracts with the power plant for the purchase of electricity.

The Alexandroupolis-Burgas pipeline was also discussed for the possibility of importing oil to feed the refinery, important from the point of view of ending the derogation. The Greek side is interested in building", the prime minister said.

One of the problems with the first route is the protected areas and an environmental impact assessment needs to be done again, which is why new options are being sought. The long-term prospects for the capacity that "Lukoil" wants to use should also be taken into account, said Denkov.

When asked when the special manager will enter the refinery in Burgas and whether he supports the thesis of Vladislav Panev about pushing Lukoil out of Bulgaria, similar to Italy, he replied that if Lukoil wants to, it can trade with whatever suppliers it wants and that it is not a question of pushing out of Italy, but of a deal. He explained that he was surprised by Panev's statement.

In response to questions from the National Television, Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov stated that Bulgaria will request a 20% share in the port of Kavala and to be able to continue supporting the export of Ukrainian grain.

He specified that now ships with Ukrainian grain depart from the Port of Varna, as the railway corridors to Kavala have not yet been developed, but work will be done in this direction.

According to the Prime Minister, it is not necessary to declare the Russian ambassador to our country, Eleonora Mitrofanova, as an undesirable person due to the statements of the Russian deputy Pyotr Tolstoy.

Denkov explained that the statements about the numerous Russian community living along our Black Sea coast, which could be stimulated for protests, were not Mitrofanova herself. He added that he would contact the Foreign Ministry to convey a message to Ambassador Mitrofanova about the inadmissibility of such statements, and added that our attitude towards these people should be the same as towards everyone else.

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