Bulgarian President to Ask Consultative Security Council about Steps to Resolve Crisis

Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev has added new issues to the agenda of the meeting of the Consultative Council on National Security scheduled for June 20.

"Apart from security sector reform, I have added a new topic of discussion - adequate measures of the political parties represented in Parliament in connection with the political crisis we have yet again fallen into," Bulgaria's head of state announced Monday, as cited by Focus news agency.

Bulgaria has seen three days of nationwide protests, which were initially triggered by the appointment of Delyan Peevski, controversial media mogul and MP of the ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms party, and escalated into calls for a resignation of the government of Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski and a change of the corrupt political model.

"The people said it very clearly: we want to be governed by moral people who do not steal and lie to us. It is this simple. It is about time we showed who we were by our actions," the President said, adding that the trustworthiness of the government had worn thin.

"My stance is clear – I withdrew my confidence from the Cabinet, which does not mean that I am not ready, within my constitutional powers, to work with them and to support, or at least not stand in the way of, any reasonable idea which brings progress for the nation from the situation we are in," he stated, adding that he would expect to hear straightforward analyses on Thursday, including plans for any resignations.

Plevneliev voiced hopes that all political parties would come prepared to the June 20 sitting, ready to take responsible decisions on the next steps towards resolving the crisis.

Bulgaria's President noted that the appointment of Delyan Peevski as Chair of the State Agency for National Security, DANS, had set a new record in secretive policies during the so-called transition period.

He noted that resigning was a moral issue which people had to decide for themselves.

Plevneliev commented that Bulgarians had yet again demonstrated a strong culture of democracy and love for the country, adding that this was citizens' way of offering a helping hand to politicians.

"These protests are very categorical, the motive is clear, and it is high time for politicians to change their approach so as not to allow such steps," he stated during the sod turning ceremony of the Economic Zone Sofia-Bozhurishte, according to reports of the Bulgarian National Radio and the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency.

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