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Former Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ivaylo Kalfin (2005-2009). Photo by BGNES
Bulgarian MEP Ivaylo Kalfin has stated the reasons behind his resignation as head of the Bulgarian delegation in the European Parliament’s S&D group in an open letter.
The letter was addressed to ruling Socialist Party leader Sergey Stanishev and former party colleagues and was published on Kalfin's blog.
“I have always believed that people trusted me to change their lives and not be loyal to the party leadership. Yes, I have been endorsed by the Bulgarian Socialist Party as a member of parliament, a Minister and a candidate for President. I have worked wholeheartedly for the party. Yet, I was not able to change the country in the way I imagined,” Kalfin explained on his blog.
“I am not a traitor. Those who have forgotten their promises to the people are the traitors. Those who are not disturbed by BSP's incapacity to maintain independent responsible ruling in the last 20 years are traitors. Those who refuse to speak openly of coalitions in order to protect the party's honor, those are the real traitors.”
“I stand behind a social democratic alternative. My main political opponents are GERB (center-right Bulgarian Citizens for European Development) and the right wing. If successful, both lists – that of ABV and of BSP will work in the same parliamentary group in the European Parliament – that of Socialists and Democrats,” Kalfin argued.
“It is my obligation to invest my authority in an important cause – to reinforce the public trust in the left wing and to regain Bulgaria's prestige.”
Kalfin has confirmed that an alternative left-wing project will take part in the upcoming EU elections. The Alternative for Bulgarian Renaissance (ABV) movement of former left-wing President Georgi Parvanov will endorse its own MEP candidates. Kalfin, a former Foreign Minister (2005-2009), is expected to head ABV’s EU election list.
Key Bulgarian Socialist Party officials have already condemned Parvanov and Kalfin as “traitors.”
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