I will get acquainted in great detail and very seriously with the opposition's claims. But I am always embarrassed when some individuals from this opposition talk about a budget. If we are in this situation today, this is largely due to Mr. Assen Vassilev. This was commented by President Iliana Yotova in an interview for the program “Panorama“ on BNT, quoted by BTA.
I am not embarrassed to say it. I rarely name anyone by name, because I always believe that in politics there is more collective than personal responsibility. But we are forced to live in a year in which we are working with a budget from last year, which, let me remind you, is in leva. We are working in euros. We have been working for many years with a budget as if we were on a lease. We pay our contributions later. And now it's time to pay these bills. And that's why I call it a “borrowed budget“.
The government was probably about or less than a month old when it turned out that Bulgaria was in an excessive deficit. How can you be in the Maastricht criteria just a little while before, and then suddenly be in an excessive deficit. And this is an assessment of the European Commission, not our assessment. How can completed projects not be paid, how can municipalities not be paid for so long, in order to reach this 3% deficit and be able to enter the eurozone, Yotova asked. That's why I would call for more honesty, the president commented. According to her, this budget cannot be just any budget with claims for long reforms.
The president described as a “complete lie“ the claim that the government had once and for all forgotten about the children's hospital project. I have spoken to President Radev on this topic many times. The bitter truth is that 10 years later from the project for a children's hospital, which is cynicism, and a truly severe diagnosis for us as a society, we have a 3D presentation and a one-page project, which is currently being appealed. By the end of this year, nothing can actually go ahead with this project. I have the assurance of Prime Minister Radev that next year the priority of priorities will be the children's hospital, President Yotova also said.