The issue of pardons was used extremely ugly. This was said in the program "From the Day" on BNT by the chairman of the PG of "Progressive Bulgaria" Petar Vitanov on the occasion of the pardon by the president and candidate for head of state Iliyana Yotova of Ognyan Atanasov, known as the Petrich Escobar. The decision was made by Yotova in her capacity as vice president at the end of 2022.
The responsibility lies with the vice president, but the recommendations of the medical commission can direct its decisions in one direction or another. There are scientists, doctors in the commission - their findings are for severe oncological disease, dementia, stroke and peritonitis. A risk to life has been established, saying that urgent treatment is necessary. Who is the one who would prefer that this person die in prison and be taken abroad as a country for inhumane treatment of prisoners? I am not saying what is right and what is wrong, I am only saying that from what I have been able to see as a medical conclusion, this is either a medical miracle, or the commission has somehow abused it. But do not expect the president to go and check with either a stethoscope or an MRI, Vitanov said.
He noted that he hopes that the "Petrokhan" case not to be used for political purposes.
For me, this is an extremely cruel crime, it is simply monstrous and I hope that the reasons for it will be revealed and that it will not be repeated again, because it is a symptom of a sick society, the chairman of the PG of "Progressive Bulgaria" pointed out.
I do not want to politicize the case, although there is a direct or indirect connection between a participant in this case and one or another political force. But I think that they were misled. There is a cover-up of a pedophile - whether by political forces or by services. In my opinion, responsibility should be sought from those who favored these structures. They are favored in the management of a certain political force, commented Petar Vitanov.
Regarding GERB's criticism of the executive branch's interference in the work of the Chamber of Accounts and manipulation of the state deficit, the chairman of the PG of "Progressive Bulgaria" noted: "There is an official request for a report from the Court of Auditors. Let's see the results. It has long been no longer managed by phone. We really rely on institutionality".
In connection with the election of a new composition of the Supreme Judicial Council, he said: "The Supreme Judicial Council is a priority for every political force that is outside the status quo. We are trying to have a dialogue with those parties that claim that the topic is a priority for them and that were assembled with those who are reproaching today. If we want change, we must find consensus. I am sure that we will find consensus with these political parties".
The President of the European Commission Ursula Von der Leyen recognized the Bulgarian priorities in her speech today in the European Parliament. The fact that there is a summit next year in our country means that the European Union recognizes our priorities and the alternative to a huge turnover of goods will pass through Bulgaria. There has not been a greater success for Bulgarian diplomacy in years, said Vitanov, who is also the chairman of the Foreign Policy Committee.
He pointed out that the Trans-Caspian Corridor, or the so-called Middle Corridor, is a pan-European priority project that will provide energy and rail connectivity for the exchange of goods and services, and will be an alternative to the Chinese Belt and Road.