Bulgaria to Claim Damages from Libya over Jailed Medics

Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, says that Bulgaria could not have dealt with the economic crisis without the cabinet of his GERB, party. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria will be relentless in asking compensations from Libya over the Bulgarian medics who spent years in Libyan prison on charges they have purposely infected local children with AIDS.

The statement was made Friday by Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, who spoke in an interview for the Bulgarian National Television, BNT, upon the conclusion of the international conference "Friends of Libya" in Paris.

Borisov said Bulgaria will ask for compensations and reinstatement of the lost concessions through the country's Foreign Affairs Minister and other diplomats after the situation in Libya becomes more stable.

The PM, however, failed to state the exact amount of the claim.

He further declared that Bulgaria was ready to support the new Libyan rebel government of the Transitional National Council (NTC) by sending medical teams and teams for the training of the new Libyan police force.

On local politics, Borisov stressed that Bulgaria could not have dealt with the economic crisis without the cabinet of his Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria, GERB, party. He underlined once again the importance of building the country's infrastructure, particularly the roads, which has been the top priority on his agenda in his two years in office.

"I regret that in the 21st century I have to explain the importance of the infrastructure for a country,'" he said.

The PM voiced satisfaction regarding recent admissions of Bulgarian President, Georgi Parvanov, the Three Way Coalition cabinet (Bulgaria's cabinet between 2005 and 2009, appointed by the President - a coalition of the left-wing Bulgarian Socialist Party, BSP, the ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms, DPS, and the party of former King and PM, Simeon Saxe-Coburg - National Movement for Stability and Prosperity, NMSP) should have ended its term after Bulgaria's joining of the European Union.

Borisov, however, scorned Parvanov for downplaying "obvious successes of the GERB cabinet," such as not raising the Value Added Tax (VAT) and keeping the lowest taxation in the EU.

Regarding the President's statement that there is shock and horror in the education and healthcare sectors in Bulgaria, the PM stated it was the fault of former Ministers, appointed by the very same President. He further promised that income of Bulgarians will go up as the result of all the work of the government.

In a TV interview the day before Parvanov criticized the report of the cabinet Borisov, presented at the opening of the new Parliamentary session Wednesday, as nothing but administrative chronicles, without any politics.

In the Friday interview, the PM once again refused to answer if the top ranked member of the cabinet, Regional Minister, Rosen Plevneliev, will be the GERB presidential candidate.

The ruling party's nomination is scheduled to be announced on September 4.

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