The referendum on the euro should have been held a year ago, not initiated a year ago. Today is too late. The very technology for convening a referendum. If the National Assembly makes the mistake of convening a referendum, we are going to the quarter of 2026, when we have already introduced the euro. This was commented by former Interior Minister Rumen Petkov in the studio of "Denyat ON AIR" in connection with President Radev's request to the parliament for a decision to hold a national referendum on replacing the lev with the euro.
Late referendum
"With the euro there will be a lot of speculation from the parliamentary rostrum, only destructive initiatives can be proposed. The president in this case is in a strong position, because it turns out that his desire to consult the people, the Constitutional Court found, was rejected unlawfully", said the leader of ABV, part of the BSP-OL.
He is categorical that a referendum would raise a question in our partners about how capable we are of sending unified signals.
Petkov is convinced that the decision of the then Speaker of Parliament Natalia Kiselova to return Radev's request was not made solely by her.
Reforms in the Ministry of Interior
4.4 billion is the budget of the Ministry of Interior for 2026. 95% of the money is for salaries.
More than 50,000 people currently work in the system.
"It is about stagnation, for the last 10 years there has been serious deformation in the Ministry of Interior. The fact that so much money is going to the "Salary" fund shows that essentially we are in a situation where we are not allocating funds for training and preparation, we have few funds for maintaining and renewing the material and technical base, which is a bad sign," said Petkov.
Through the air of Bulgaria ON AIR, he called for a reform that would deal with these over 4,000 pensioners in the Ministry of Interior system.
"Most of them are on TELK - this is a demoralizing fact in the system itself and discrediting in the eyes of society. The minister must sanitize the system," Rumen Petkov was categorical.
Changes in "Lukoil"
The leader of ABV said that Rumen Spetsov's first steps were correct. He described the appeal of the Lukoil headquarters in Russia as well-founded: "I hope it will be heard and understood."
He pointed out that more than 50% of the shares of Lukoil are owned by American companies.
"Trump is behaving like a hangman from the darkest insurance years in Bulgaria. We in Europe stand and nod our heads. We don't think - after all, we are the Eastern Flank, why don't you create guarantees for energy security for us, we are talking about how we will attract Western investors. More than 20 Western refineries are bankrupt", warned Rumen Petkov.
The former interior minister gave an example of how in 10-15 days the price of diesel fuel increased by over 10 stotinki.
"Let's be more measured in this zoological enthusiasm, the encroachment could close our airports", warned Petkov.
Petkov in Russia
During the visit of an ABC delegation to Moscow, among the topics of conversation were sanctions against Russia.
"I am convinced that they understood our appeal well not to take reciprocal measures against Bulgarian companies in Russia. If we do not take unnecessary actions, nothing threatens our companies there now", Petkov is categorical.