PES President Won't Punish Party Member over Socialism-AIDS Comparison

Sergey Stanishev, leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), has stated that he will not punish his party's media policy secretary Anton Kutev, who recently said that "socialism has some things in common with AIDS."

In a recent interview, Kutev pointed out that socialism, like AIDS, "is predominantly inherited or sexually transmitted."

His remark stirred outrage among some party members, with key BSP MP Korneliya Ninova demanding Kutev's resignation and an apology.

On Monday, Stanishev, who is also an interim president of the Party of European Socialist, commented on the scandal, saying that "punishments for anecdotes existed in other times."

He referred to the Communist totalitarian regime that ended in 1989, adding that he hoped BSP has stopped using this approach a long time ago.

Stanishev strongly criticized the ruling centrist-right GERB party for mocking Kutev's words, saying that it tried to divert attention from its own "immense failures."

The left-wing leader declared that his party has one major goal – to put an end to GERB's "malevolent, dangerous and arrogant rule."

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