Emblematic Bulgarian MEP Quits Right-Wing Party

Bulgarian EPP MEP Nadezhda Neynsky has resigned from the right-wing Union of Democratic Forces party, UDF.

In an open letter to UDF leader, Emil Kabaivanov, the Member of the European Parliament and one of the most emblematic right-wing politicians after the fall of Communism, writes that the decision of the National Executive Council, NIS, has been a test of UDF members' convictions and it has proven they believe in very different ideas.

Earlier Monday, NIS voted to expel from the party the Members of the Bulgarian Parliament, Martin Dimitrov, Dimo Gyaurov, and Vanio Sharkov on grounds they failed to support the nomination of former right-wing President, Petar Stoyanov, for constitutional judge.

"In recent months I heard many and any attacks against my personality. I decided it was unnecessary to respond to them. But something happened to convince me that you went too far, beyond any boundaries and there is no way back. I heard the eco of the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria party, GERB, that the right-wing rule in 1997 – 2001 has been the biggest failure of the Transition Period. Here I can no longer remain silent, because silence would be accessory to the lie and to the replacement of the truth," the letter reads.

According to Neynsky, the truth is that the traditional right wing delivered democracy in Bulgaria, returned property ownership to citizens, tamed the crisis inherited by the former Communist rule, reinstated Bulgaria on the maps of Europe and of the world, protected the country during the Kosovo crisis, started negotiations for EU membership and lifted the visa regime for travels across the Old Continent.

She stresses that all of the above prompts the most important question about the role of GERB's leaders in these processes, adding she would hint to Kabaivanov the answer - they were then on the other side of the barricade.

"Today you want to walk through the door to power, regardless of the means. You are ready to pay any price, but I am not. I was not ready in 1993 when I received a proposal after the toppling of the right-wing Cabinet to become a convenient disguise of the Communist replacement. I was not ready in 2001 either, when former Tsar and then Prime Minister, Simeon Saxe-Coburg, wanted to use me as a symbol of the replacement. I am not ready today to serve the newest winners from GERB in helping them to erase the memories of reforms in Bulgaria," Neynski writes, stressing there is no price that would make her betray the hopes of those who continue to believe in democracy and there is no rule that can compensate her feeling of satisfaction from protecting the interests of her homeland in her capacity of Foreign Minister.

"To me there is nothing that could erase the memory of people crying from joy when the visa regime was lifted. For me UDF is not a brand name that can be traded. It is not a badge one can put on their lapel. Today the doors to the fortress have been opened by our own. And the invaders are ready to rush in, disgrace out temples, plunder the little that remains and hang our battle flags. I refuse to be part of this public humiliation. Not after everything I have been trough. I am not leaving UDF, UDF has left me. So, Mr. Chairman, please accept this letter as my resignation from UDF membership," Neynsky concludes.

She explains she is remaining a MEP from the Blue Coalition, which she sees as the last vestige of hope for Bulgarian democrats.

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