New Bulgarian President Travels to Flood-Stricken Areas

New Bulgarian President, Rosen Plevneliev (c), and other officials toured the flooded town of Svilengrad on an armored carrier. Photo by BGNES

Newly-inaugurated Bulgarian President, Rosen Plevneliev, has joined other officials in touring the flooded areas and monitoring the rescue effort.

On Tuesday, together with Bulgaria's EU Commissioner on International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, Kristalina Georgieva, Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, Agriculture Minister, Miroslav Naydenov, and Defense Minister, Anyu Angelov, Plevneliev visited the flooded "Gerban" district of the town of Svilengrad on the Bulgarian-Turkish border.

They toured the streets submerged under water on an armored carrier and later gave a briefing, where it was reported that despite the very serious situation in the town, there are no registered fatalities. 100 Svilengrad residents were evacuated with the help of divers and heavy equipment.

Plevneliev applauded the work of the crisis headquarters and declared the State must get involved and implement reforms, including the much needed water reform. He stressed that the issue with ownership of dams must be resolved ASAP.

"There is a need to have passports of all water facilities in order to know who is responsible and stop the passing of the ball," the new President said.

When asked by journalists what the most radical reform to undertake is, he replied that the measures will reach as far as draining some of these facilities – the obsolete and dangerous ones, but stressed that entire "Europe, not only Bulgaria, is suffocating under the heavy snow."

Georgieva also voiced a firm opinion for water reform. She explained that Bulgaria will, most likely, receive EU funding to deal with the disaster, however, similarly to Plevneliev, she pointed out that every country on the Old Continent is in distress.

Several towns and villages in southeastern Bulgaria were flooded in the aftermath of heavy snow. The village of Biser was the worst affected after waters of the nearby Ivanovo dam bust its wall. Eight people died and two are still missing. The cabinet declared Wednesday, February 8, a national day of mourning for the victims.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!