EU 'Only Viable Project Helping Bulgaria' - Deputy PM

Meglena Kuneva, Bulgaria's outgoing Deputy PM and Education Minister. File photo, BGNES

Ten years on from joining the EU, Bulgaria retains its confidence the bloc is "the only viable project giving support" to the country, outgoing Deputy Prime Minister Meglena Kuneva has said.

Kuneva, Bulgaria's first ever EU Commissioner, has told the Bulgarian National Radio that citizens should not accept accession to the bloc as "routine" before "victories indeed turn into a habit."

Bulgaria joined the EU in January 2007, alongside Romania. Kuneva had been EU Affairs Minister until the moment and, until the autumn of 2016, was in charge of the preparation of the rotating EU presidency due in the first half of 2018.

Parliament should adopt a declaration against using the forthcoming presidency for political campaigning, in the eve of an early general election this spring, she has told the public broadcaster.

The official has also urged consensus on the future EU Commissioner of Bulgaria, with the country currently not being represented in the bloc's executive body after Kristalina Georgieva took up a job at the World Bank.

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