Bulgarian Socialist MEP Kalfin Confirms Presidential Nomination

MEP Ivailo Kalfin has confirmed he is one of the names on the Bulgarian Socialist Party`s list of presidential candidates. Photo by BGNES.

Ex Foreign Minister of Bulgaria and current Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Ivailo Kalfin, confirmed Monday his nomination for the 2011 presidential elections.

"My name is one among a number of other nominations of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), for which I am thankful to all organizations in charge of this", Kalfin said in the Danubian city of Ruse.

The Bulgarian socialists have also floated the names of MP Petar Korumbashev, and former Regional Minister and current Mayor of the southern city of Blagoevgrad, Kostadin Paskalev as potential presidential hopefuls.

Kalfin added he was looking forward to the end of the nomination process and admitted that there were, in his opinion, a number of better candidates, including better than him, put forward by BSP.

Underscoring the great importance of the autumn 2011 elections, he vowed to work to the maximum of his capacity.

"GERB's influence will grow too large, the party will risk a power binge", Kalfin commented, warning against the possibility of the ruling party scoring a victory at both the presidential and the local elections.

Leveling criticism against the government, the socialist MEP pointed out that, in terms of absorption of funds under EU's Regional Development Fund, Bulgaria had dropped from 13th or 14th spot to the very bottom of the ranking.

Kalfin went on to accuse the GERB Cabinet of sending mixed signals for the programs related to EU funding.

To illustrate his critique, Kalfin quoted Prime Minister Borisov's pledge to have the Struma highway ready by 2014, despite the facts that the project for its route under the Kresna Gorge was not ready and that Bulgaria had requested funding for the project after 2014.

The MEP informed that the situation with the Hemus highway was the same, given that the government had sought financing for the project after 2013.

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