Bulgarian Leftist Presidential Runner Vows to Set Long-Term Goals

Bulgaria's Socialist MEP and former Foreign Minister Ivaylo Kalfin. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria's next President should put efforts into creating a long-term vision for the country's development, Ivaylo Kalfin, newly endorsed presidential runner by the leftist oppositional Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), has stated.

The President should set priorities for Bulgaria's development over the next 15-20 years, Kalfin declared after he was chosen as the socialist party's candidate for the elections in the fall.

The civil society is not an abstraction, the Presidential hopeful has pointed out, as cited by Actualno.com, adding that the President's vision should be widely supported by the Bulgarian society.

According to Kalfin, Bulgaria's former Foreign Minister, his country has failed to be an active factor in the international relations since the current centrist-right GERB's minority government took over in 2009.

On Saturday, Kalfin was backed by the National Council of the left wing party, which gathered Saturday to name its presidential candidate. He won 60% of the representatives' votes.

In Saturday's decisive vote, BSP MP Yanaki Stoilov finished second, with the other three hopefuls, current Presidential Advisor, Ivo Atanasov, former MEP Georgi Bliznashki, and the leader of BSP in the Sofia suburb of Bankiya, Stefan Vasilev, winning just a couple of votes.

Kalfin, who is technically not a member of the Bulgarian Socialist Party but of the minor leftist Political Movement "Social-Democrats" was Bulgaria's Foreign Minister in the three-way coalition government of Sergey Stanishev in 2005-2009. He is currently a BSP MEP.