Bulgaria's Parliament Rejects Proposed PM Hearing on Burgas Bombing

The hearing requested by Ivan Kostov, leader of the Democrats for Strong Bulgaria (DSB) party, was rejected Thursday with 45 votes for, 49 votes against, and 39 abstainees. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria's Parliament has rejected a demand of right-wing leader Ivan Kostov for a hearing of Prime Minister Borisov on the government's stance on the Burgas bus bombing.

The request of the leader of the Democrats for Strong Bulgaria (DSB) party was rejected Thursday with 45 votes for, 49 votes against, and 39 abstainees.

On Wednesday, Bulgaria's Parliament, dominated by the center-right ruling GERB party, turned down a request for a hearing of Borisov on Bulgaria's stance on the EU multiannual financial framework 2014-2020.

At the beginning of Thursday's sitting, Kostov drew attention to the fact that President Rosen Plevneliev and Chief Prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov had distanced themselves from the statement of Interior Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov regarding Hezbollah's involvement in the terror attack at the Sarafovo airport in July 2012.

Plevneliev claimed that Tsvetanov had breached an agreement between the participants in Bulgaria's Consultative Council on National Security and had single-handedly decided to mention Hezbollah in his media statement.

The DSB leader reminded Thursday that Chief Prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov had emphasized that the term "reasonable assumption" used by Tsvetanov to refer to the links of two suspects for the Burgas terror attack to Hezbollah, had not been used as a legal term.

"The Prime Minister must come to explain what his Deputy is saying," Kostov insisted, urging Borisov to shed light on the official stance of the Bulgarian government.

His call, however, was rejected by Parliament.

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