We must have our own firefighting capabilities. This was said by President Rumen Radev, who welcomed foreign aircraft at the Plovdiv airport, arriving as assistance under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism to control the fires in the country.
"Let us also thank our EU partners. Four aircraft were supposed to land today, but only one from Hungary came. This raises the acute question of our own capabilities for firefighting by air. Tomorrow our Air Force will have two "Cougars" and one "Mi-17". By the time all of these arrive - our villages have burned down, many houses have burned down. Last year, at this time, the parliament adopted a decision and obliged the Council of Ministers to purchase fire-fighting equipment. Since then, negligence and decline have been observed. We must have our own fire-fighting capabilities. The guys from the Krumovo air base are doing everything possible," said the head of state.
The president also commented on the dispute over whether the Anti-Corruption Commission should be closed.
"The Anti-Corruption Commission cannot exist in its current form. The people who created it created it in the hope that it would be used as a parallel prosecutor's office. However, this parallel prosecutor's office is currently being used by others and has turned against them. This commission cannot work as a bat in the hands of the backstage and the powerful of the day, it must fight corruption, so if it remains, its functions and composition must first be changed."