Swoboda: Bulgarian Govt Must Distance Itself from Extremists

Politics » BULGARIA IN EU | July 2, 2013, Tuesday // 14:30
Swoboda: Bulgarian Govt Must Distance Itself from Extremists: Swoboda: Bulgarian Govt Must Distance Itself from Extremists Austrian Socialdemocrat Hannes Swoboda, photo by EPA/BGNES

Hours before the European Parliament is to start debates on Bulgaria, the Chairman of the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, Hannes Swoboda, called on the country's government to distinguish itself from the policies of the nationalist Ataka party.

The Bulgarian National Radio reports that a journalist has asked Swoboda at a press conference in Strasbourg if he has been attempting to legitimize the collaboration of Bulgaria's Socialist-endorsed government with extremists from Ataka because a company where his spouse was employed received a large public order during the term of the Socialist-led Three-Way Coalition (2005 – 2009).

Swoboda firmly rejected the above claim, saying he had reiterated on several occasions, including at the Tuesday briefing that the Bulgarian government must distinguish from Ataka because the socialists and the nationalists did not share any common values.

When asked why the socialists and the liberals voted against the debate on Bulgaria, the Austrian politician replied they were not against, but wanted to hold it in September to give more time to MEPs to observe the situation in the country.

Swoboda is a member of the Party of European Socialists, PES, which is led by Sergey Stanishev, who also chairs the Bulgarian Socialist Party, BSP.

During the PES sitting in Sofia on June 22 he gave high marks to Stanishev and the Cabinet of Prime Minister, Plamen Oresharski, amidst mass anti-government protest rallies in Sofia and several other cities.

Bulgarian citizens are staging rallies for the 19th day in a row now. They were sparked by the outrageous decision of the government and the Parliament to appoint controversial media mogul and lawmaker Delyan Peevski as Chair of the State Agency for National Security (DANS) with Stanishev seen as one of the masterminds behind the plan.

The decision was eventually reversed, yet protesters went on to demand the resignation of the socialist-led government over ties with oligarchs, an end to opaque policies, and Election Code amendments aimed at guaranteeing a greater representation of Bulgarian citizens in the government.

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Tags: Ataka, Martin Weber, Ivaylo Kalfin, MEPs, MEP, European parliament, EPP, BSP, PES, Sergey Stanishev, parliament, Plamen Oresharski, State Agency for National Security, protests, Election Code, protest, rallies, rally, protests, Delyan Peevski, DANS, Cabinet, government, Council of Ministries, GERB, nationalist, protests, protest, rallies

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