The Chairman of the UDF, Rumen Hristov, stated on the air of “Your Day“ on NOVA NEWS that he sees nothing worrying about Bulgaria being part of the Peace Council and maintaining very good relations with the US, as well as excellent relations with the European Union. According to him, at a later stage, other EU countries may join the initiative.
Hristov emphasized that the Peace Council is not a private UN and, in his opinion, it is important to clearly distinguish this. He gave the example of the conflict in Gaza, pointing out that the ceasefire achieved there was the result of the efforts of Donald Trump, not the UN.
The leader of the UDF rejected the claims that Bulgaria's possible inclusion in Trump's initiative is related to the “Magnitsky“ sanctions. According to him, such speculations are unfounded, and membership in the Peace Council would be in the country's interest.
Hristov also commented on the changes in the Electoral Code related to limiting the number of polling stations in non-EU countries to 20. He emphasized that the UDF did not support the introduction of amendments to the electoral legislation shortly before elections, defining this practice as bad, although often applied in Bulgaria. According to him, the ideas for the changes came from “We Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria“, which insisted on the rapid introduction of machine voting. He recalled that the position of the UDF has always been that voters should choose their own way of voting - with a paper ballot or a machine.
According to him, scanning devices are a different technology, with no possibility of vote manipulation. Hristov also specified that the GERB-UDF coalition proposed that the number of sections outside the EU be 30, not 20.