Bulgaria is starting to become one of the most expensive countries in Europe for essential goods. This was stated to BNT by former Deputy Prime Minister, Social Affairs and Foreign Minister Ivaylo Kalfin, quoted by "Focus".
"The state always has money. A matter of priorities", this is how he commented on the budget.
"In my opinion, what is most important for the next government is the commitment, and the long-term one. And this will be the difference from the last 5 years. Now there is indeed a situation that is urgent and that must be resolved now, but more important is how it will be resolved in the future. This is what we expect from a regular government, not to just put out fires, but to provide stability," he pointed out.
"Salaries and pensions are not the biggest culprit for the budget deficit. Incomes must be raised anyway, and business understands this. The point is that this must be balanced, fair for everyone, and there must really be a feeling that there is some direction, not that pre-election steps are being taken," said Kalfin.
"The"Swiss rule" must be preserved. It is one of the best elements of the pension system. There is no reason to remove it," he was categorical.
"It is very expensive. Including in stores and compared to other countries, and for essential food products, Bulgaria is starting to become one of the most expensive countries in Europe. Which is again a matter of longer-term policy," Kalfin pointed out.
"I have respect for the administration. There is no country without administration. We should not look at it as some bad thing that we need to eliminate. After all, that is where the public services that we all rely on come from. And that is why I am against any general approach to the administration. You cannot count on digital technologies to replace people," he said.
"I do not expect there to be a sharp turn from the "Radev" government in terms of foreign policy. I think that is not the mandate with which this government was elected. And I do not see such signals from there. I hope they don't pour into the mill of misunderstood nationalism, in which I think that if we flex our muscles everywhere around us, we are much more independent and better. Bulgaria is strong in a multilateral format and has always been so. We are the type of country that can achieve much more through the UN, NATO, EU, than if we stretch ourselves and start solving our problems on our own. Let's look inside Bulgaria, not outside it, when there are any problems. Because it is very easy to say "They made us from Brussels". I don't know if anyone else believes that, because we have been participating in the aforementioned Brussels for 20 years and are involved in decision-making," Kalfin commented.
"If Bulgaria isolates itself, we saw what happens to Hungary. I don't know if this brings any political dividends, but I doubt it. I think that the mandate of this government was actually not foreign policy, but domestic policy and in particular the judicial system. And the terrible injustices that people are fed up with. And I hope we don't slip into the language of populism, in which we like it a lot that we have blocked three EU decisions, how much more independent we are. No, Bulgaria is weaker then," he added.