Ex EU Commissioner Named Favorite in Bulgaria's Presidential Race

Bulgaria's ex EU Commissioner and Chief Negotiator for EU accession Meglena Kuneva has been termed the most likely winner in the upcoming presidential race. Photo by BGNES

Austrian daily Der Standard has declared former EU Commissioner Meglena Kuneva as the favorite to win Bulgaria's forthcoming presidential elections in October.

An extensive interview with the independent presidential candidate dated August 05 sheds light on her political agenda.

Bulgaria's first and former European Commissioner opens the talks with Austrian journalist Markus Bernath by rejecting his allegation that the country is one with a predominantly macho culture.

According to Kuneva, although gender inequality has never been brought up for discussion during all of her 80 pre-election meetings, the feminine principle dominates in Bulgaria.

However, Bulgaria's former Chief Negotiator for the EU accession process vows to fight for increased appointments of women to managerial positions in the private and the public sector.

In her words, the country needs more transparency and a greater representation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) because "this capital in Bulgaria is under-exploited".

When asked to account for the slow process of civil society-building and the reluctance of Bulgarians to participate in democracy, Kuneva attributes the observed social passivity to to widespread public mistrust.

"In Bulgaria, mistrust is a weapon of mass destruction. However, business and politics nowadays revolve chiefly around confidence", the nonpartisan presidential runner states.

In her opinion, Bulgaria lacks powerful NGOs because people are not willing to listen to their views.

Kuneva explains that her decision to run as a candidate backed by civil society has been prompted by the idea that such a president could restore the balance in society.

Specifying that all Eastern European countries are undergoing tough times, she lists Bulgaria's unique achievements, such as the country's accession to EU and NATO and the peak in foreign investments.

At the same time, Kuneva acknowledges disadvantages such as Bulgaria's failure to reform its judiciary and the lack of a stable society.

She says that Bulgaria is plagued by a constant battle between interest groups, which makes many Bulgarians leave the country in a quest for a better life and a better future.

According to Kuneva, filling vacancies in public office in a fair and transparent manner is essential for giving young Bulgarians a good example and dissuading them from emigration.

As a former Chief Negotiator for Bulgaria's EU accession, she says that she is deeply disappointed with the EC progress reports on the country.

"We used to make steady progress to a certain point, and then we quickly backtracked because of the ruling party's intervention in the judicial system.", Kuneva says, stressing the need to restore Bulgarians' confidence in public servants and the need to "reach public agreement on the process of reaching agreement" in order to bring Bulgaria on the path to success .

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