Bulgaria is Poorest EU Country Due to 100-year Communist Rule - PM

Bulgaria is the poorest EU Member State due to the 100-year Communist rule, according to Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.

Borisov attended the EU leaders summit in Brussels which was supposed to achieve agreement on the 2014-2020 EU budget.

However, the EU's long-term budget summit ended with no deal and a new discussion is to take place in January.

"Bulgaria has two starting positions, the lowest GDP and the poorest EU country. This is a result of the 100-year rule of the socialists, the Bulgarian Communist Party," Bulgaria's Prime Minister commented after the EU leaders summit.

Borisov suggested that all formulas used to calculate the money received by EU countries were based on this starting position.

"This is a result of so many years of marching on the Red Square," Bulgaria's Prime Minister said, as cited by private TV station Nova TV.

He argued that the second major problem was that the previous government had had the EU funds blocked in their entirety.

"Many countries say "You are claiming a lot of money but your previous government actually absorbed less than 1% of EU funds, while you absorb 25%. Learn to absorb all of the money and then call for more,"" Borisov reasoned.

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