Our categorical position for Ukraine is peace through negotiations, an hour sooner. The security architecture of Europe passes through common peace. We will never be part of the warmongers in Bulgaria. This was stated by the presidential candidate Iliana Yotova at a meeting with citizens in Pazardzhik. According to her, their opponents with Kiril Valchev are warmongers who want more funds for weapons for Ukraine so that the war continues. They want to be on the side of those who profit from the war at the cost of severe Russophobia, and they have no sentiment towards the fact that Orthodox people, Slavs, die every day at the front, Yotova pointed out. “They want a war of attrition, for Russia to capitulate and then sit at the negotiating table. After nearly five years of war, the whole of Europe is exhausted – "lack of fuel supplies, high prices," she stressed. Iliyana Yotova once again emphasized that Europe should participate with its own proposal in the peace negotiations, and that Bulgaria should have its strong voice in them. She was categorical that as long as she is president, she will not allow Bulgarian soldiers to be sent to Ukraine to participate in a peacekeeping mission, as is the plan of the Coalition of the Willing.
At the meeting in Pazardzhik, Yotova informed those present about all the actions taken by her and the Bulgarian government at all levels in connection with the drone attacks in the Bulgarian exclusive economic zone. Among them are meetings with partners in NATO and the European Union, talks with the President of Romania, yesterday's forum in Sofia of the defense ministers of Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey for stronger coordination to achieve a moratorium on military operations in the Black Sea.
Iliyana Yotova also emphasized in her speech the 10-year agreement with Ukraine signed by Andrey Gyurov as acting prime minister behind the backs of the National Assembly and the presidential institution. “Gyurov signed an agreement 20 days before the elections that binds Bulgaria for a full 10 years. They themselves did not know what they were signing. His then chief of staff Rumyana Bachvarova sent me a photo of the agreement page by page on Viber. What a lack of knowledge about institutional relations, about the functioning of the state“, emphasized the presidential candidate.
“When I nominated Gyurov as acting prime minister – I pointed out because I really had no choice, I took a big risk. And these are not my words, but those of his people. They told me that I was pointing out a person who had never finished what he started in his life, a person with a pending case for conflict of interest, strongly politically colored, being the chairman of a parliamentary group. They warned me that I would have big problems. But I believe that when you give a hand to a person to be in such a high position, correctness requires that you work together in the name of statehood“, pointed out Iliyana Yotova.
The presidential candidate emphasized that Gyurov did not even lead his campaign for the elections, but that it was led by the chairmen of the parties that support him – by Assen Vassilev, Ivaylo Mirchev, Bozhidar Bozanov. “They have their own accounts and from the night of the first round they started talking about overthrowing the government and early elections. Why is there this furious resistance? Because Rumen Radev's government has begun to unravel the schemes that have been tightly woven in recent years. And they want to get back together, for the laws to not be respected, for there to be instability and timelessness again. It is good for them, because the biggest fish are caught in murky water“, said Iliyana Yotova.
In her speech, she also raised the topic of educating children and young people in patriotism. “Let's not allow nihilism towards history and our own country, which is so rich. Patriotism is not obsolete, on the contrary - our children need a strong root to protect them in today's turbulent times, to have the self-confidence of heirs of a glorious country“, emphasized Yotova.
The presidential candidate thanked the people of the Pazardzhik region, with whom they have worked together a lot over the years. “We managed to build such strong ties with each other. We built relationships that our opponents do not know, because they rely on malice and confrontation. With them, personal interest and personal benefit are the leading ones“, said Yotova. She shared a memory from 2013, when she was the leader of the BSP list in Pazardzhik in the parliamentary elections. “An elderly woman gave me an icon of St. Barbara with the words: Girl, when you go to work in the morning, look at her, so that you have her blessing. But when you come home in the evening, with what you have done during the day, you must have eyes to look at her“, said Iliyana Yotova.