No country has had its EU funds suspended for failure to comply with fiscal discipline. Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Pekanov said this on bTV's “120 Minutes.”
“There are countries whose funds have been suspended because of the rule of law or because they have not carried out proper anti-corruption reforms,” Pekanov said.
Indexation in security and defence is being suspended
His comment came after the Ministry of Finance published the draft state budget for 2027. Earlier, Prime Minister Rumen Radev and Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Galab Donev presented the main parameters of the financial framework.
Pekanov described the suspension of indexation in the “Defence” and “Security” sectors as the most important measure. According to him, between 2023 and 2025, the expenditure of the Ministry of Interior increased by 76%, or €863 million. In the defence system, the increase was €500 million, or 62%.
“This is being stopped,” the Deputy Prime Minister said, adding that the situation with public finances was tense and that this was a fact.
Dispute over the second pension pillar
Pekanov also commented on the accusations made by “Yes, Bulgaria” against Galab Donev that he had concealed an idea to redirect part of the contributions from the second pension pillar to the National Social Security Institute.
“Not every measure that has been discussed somewhere at any level should be given such publicity,” Pekanov said.
He said he did not understand why MP Mirchev had chosen this approach, which, in his view, had been “outlined by Mr Vladislav Goranov.” According to him, the dispute had been provoked in order to “further inflame public opinion.”
The Deputy Prime Minister pointed out that the actual measures were set out in the finally published budget documents. Meanwhile, the opposition criticised the financial framework and accused those in power of a lack of reforms.
Source: bta.bg