The time for holding a referendum on introducing the euro has passed, now we must work to prevent speculative price increases. This was stated by Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the BSP Atanas Zafirov, quoted by the Bulgarian National Radio:
"Today the topic is completely different. In fact, the big question today is not what currency we will pay with. The big question is how people will live. Will people have anything to pay with. The big question is what policy we should implement in the future to prevent a speculative increase in prices and to prevent the greatest fears of our citizens from coming true, because they are very persistently fueled by certain political forces, which entered parliament on the back of these fears".
Zafirov made his statement during the ceremony marking the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the organization of socialist women in the BSP. The celebration was also attended by Vice President Iliana Yotova, who is one of the founders of the women's organization. In her words, the BSP has a future and its task now is to deal with populism:
"We have a lot more to do in the future, especially in a very worrying and I would say dangerous time, and therefore we have an even more responsible task: to say that not only is there a place, but we are the guarantor for there to be humanity, for there to be justice, for there to be social policies and for there to be solidarity. Let not various populists take them away from us, we should not allow them to do so".
The Speaker of the National Assembly Natalia Kiselova also delivered a greeting, and the former Chairman of the BSP and PES Sergey Stanishev insisted that Bulgaria must complete its integration into the EU and this is done by entering the Eurozone.