Where is the country heading... We already have a new ombudsman in the person of Vesislava Delcheva (GERB), but the vote in parliament was very interesting. GERB or MRF - A new beginning is in better condition in new elections, as well as what future awaits President Rumen Radev after the end of his term. Cornelia Ninova, leader of "Unruly Bulgaria", speaks in front of FACT.
- Ms. Ninova, let's start with the election of the ombudsman. BSP-United Left voted for the GERB candidate, not for Maya Manolova. The 13 votes of the BSP could have made a runoff between Maya Manolova and Vesislava Delcheva (GERB), but they didn't. And this is because...
- Because the leadership of the BSP and their parliamentary group have been bought and subordinated. They have no independent will. This became clear a long time ago. But what happened with the ombudsman's vote crossed all boundaries of morality, dignity and principles.
To nominate your own candidate and vote for someone else's is a complete downfall and degradation.
I wonder why Maya Manolova is still in the "BSP-OL" coalition? She wants an apology from GERB. But she is part of the ruling majority with GERB, which has been so mean to her. If she was standing for a position, it obviously won't happen.
- After all, the ombudsman is in President Rumen Radev's "home book" for acting prime minister. Was this also considered with the choice of Vesislava Delcheva...
- Of course, the "home book" is a leading motive. That's why the election of the ombudsman was delayed so much until the right person was found. But here lies the bigger question of the absolutely wrong change in the Constitution made by PP-DB, GERB and MRF. In their desire to limit the president, they totally doomed the state government to the parallel state. A list of potential acting prime ministers is an absolute mistake. It opens the doors wide for backstage deals on who will occupy these positions, because this person will make the elections. And as we have already seen after the Constitutional Court decision, GERB, BSP and DPS have falsified them.
- Are we starting to get rich after the EU told us “yes“ to the euro. The head of state's wish for a referendum did not come true, but was this move of his right at the time, or was he simply looking for a clash with the ruling party…
- Not only are we not getting rich, but on the contrary - we are getting poorer every day.
Over 1.5 million Bulgarians are below the poverty line.
Now not only them, but also the middle class, people with small and family businesses are languishing. Everything has gone up - food, drinks, services, electricity, water, gas, heating, VAT on bread, excise duties, vignettes, local taxes and fees. The National Statistical Institute published the official data - inflation is 4.4% on an annual basis. And all social payments are frozen. This is the most anti-social government.
As for the president and the euro - I support the referendum, but Rumen Radev was late in coming. In addition, he was inconsistent. First, he explained that there could be no referendum on this issue. He campaigned at universities. He signed a decree on the law on the euro without vetoing it. Then, for some unknown reason, at the last moment, he changed his mind and demanded a referendum. And here comes the thing that impressed me the most with a negative sign.
He called on people to protest and hid. Literally.
He never once went to the squares, he never went down to the presidency to visit the people who were lying in tents under his office in 40 degrees. He is getting lost on meaningless foreign trips, when everything in Bulgaria was seething with popular discontent.
- Do you see Rumen Radev as the leader of a political project? His mandate is coming to an end...
- No, I don't see him. I don't see him as a leader for the reasons I described above. A true leader doesn't call - go ahead and hide. The leader says: "Follow me and go first". And he has relapsed. He did the same in 2020 during the big protests. We all stood by him then under the raised fist. Then he had to do his project and would have swept away the status quo. However, he went home and started backstage conversations. He began party engineering, creating several parties, overthrowing governments. Don't forget that he is the longest-ruling president with caretaker governments - 7. Many questions about corruption weigh on him, about the devastating contract with "Botas" for every Bulgarian, which harms each and every one of us. Radev is already part of Bulgaria's problem, not its solution.
- Rumen Radev against the tandem Boyko Borisov – Delyan Peevski. What chances does Radev have on the political field?
- Are you kidding? Radev has never been against the Borisov-Peevski tandem. He has always played with one against the other. Or with the two of them together against the government – of Kiril Petkov, for example. I have seen it with my own eyes and heard it with my own ears, because they have repeatedly tried to involve me in their dirty games. And because I refused, the system removed me. I lost one battle, but the war with this model of politics continues.
- Borisov, in his typical style, has hinted several times about new elections. But is GERB or MRF-New Beginning in better shape in an early vote?
- MRF-New Beginning are in better shape. Peevski has mastered key positions. Borisov is completely dependent on Peevski. He is backed up against the wall. If the DPS-New Beginning do not support the cabinet with their votes, it will leave. The BSP and the ITN are of no importance - they are pawns. Wherever they are turned, they stand there and do not move.
- After we heard “yes” for the euro, the country's credit rating rose and we immediately took on 3.2 billion euros of debt, because we have more favorable conditions. In total, since the beginning of the year we have taken on over 16 billion leva of debt. Is this how the budget is filled - with easy money…
- Mark my word that the failure of this government will come through a collapse in the economy and from there in social protests. The approved total debt for the year is 18.9 billion. By July, they had taken on 16.2 billion leva. The business started talking about a debt spiral and a Greek scenario. I ask you: “Can anyone answer where these billions in loans went? Did anyone feel it in their pocket? Did business feel an injection? Did the macro framework feel greater GDP growth?“ I have information that the deficit is already over 3%, and what's left until the end of the year. Inflation is already over 3%. The revenue side of the budget is lagging behind. To catch up, they will cut the capital program, and this is a blow to the economy and infrastructure. If it were up to me, I would mobilize the entire country to prepare a powerful economic plan. I would harness all trade services and embassies to find markets to compensate for the decline in exports to our European partners. I would drastically reduce the administrative burden by at least half - especially for small and medium-sized businesses. I would make an anti-bureaucratic revolution. And so I answer your question - no, easy money with loans will not save us. Only a functioning and growing economy will get us out of the hole and social poverty.
- The government talked a lot when they accepted us into the eurozone, but we heard nothing about the debt. Is that what you do when you govern - you only throw forward the good news?
- That's what stupid governments do that underestimate their people. Explain to me - who believes the cheerful talk that the government and regulators will not allow speculation. Well, people go to the store every day and see how prices are rising at a breakneck pace. Every day I hear someone from the government bragging that this year they collected more revenue than last.
Well, are you taking us for fools?
Well, how can there not be more, after you increased VAT, excise duties, vignettes, social security contributions. Naturally, higher taxes, more revenue. But the truth is that the collection rate is lower than the plan they themselves set for the current year. But this is being kept quiet. The Ministry of Finance has been delaying the public report on the implementation of the budget for the second month. What are they hiding? So a country cannot be governed with supposedly "good" news. You also need intelligence.
- You have said several times that January 1, 2026 is not a suitable date for the introduction of the euro in Bulgaria, because…
- We are for the euro, but not from January 1, 2026. We are thinking realistically and pragmatically. We are not ready with real indicators of finance and the economy. You see that not even a month after the announcement of the date for the adoption and inflation is no longer at the required 3%, but officially it is already 4.4%. And what if it turns out to be true that the deficit is already over 3%? We are not yet with the euro and prices have skyrocketed. How can people survive? Incomes are frozen. Even the minimum wage is fixed the same for the next 2026. They had to update the budget to increase incomes. They didn't lift a finger.
- How are the authorities dealing with the increase in prices of basic food products. Do you see any working measures?
- How? Not at all. It can be seen on the shelf in the store. I wondered whether to laugh or cry as I watched the entire Council of Ministers gather and listen intelligently to Temenuzhka Petkova about how they will fight speculation by increasing the font of prices in stores and writing them in a brighter color so that they can be seen from afar. Well, what does it matter whether they are in screaming yellow or bright pink - 2 leva is still 2 leva. While they waste time on inadequate decisions, they should impose draconian control on food imports from third countries. Fruits and vegetables are imported at deliberately low prices so as not to pay VAT and kill Bulgarian production. If they catch someone who has put a false label on a foreign product - Bulgarian production - their company should be closed down. Markets for producers without resellers should be built with a bang. Long-term measures - restoration of irrigation systems for irrigated agriculture. Subsidizing real production, not meadows with thistles on them, etc. A price ceiling and folk shops are temporary measures. The long-term solution is a strategic vision for the restoration of Bulgarian agriculture. We have wonderful land, varieties and specialists. We only need political will. And it must appear in time, because the next conflicts in the world will be for arable land and food. And ours - the Bulgarian one - can feed us.