GERB leader Boyko Borissov has said his party will not make further concessions on fiscal policy and will move back toward a conservative budget framework, arguing that the state should redistribute less than 40% of gross domestic product. In an interview with Capital.bg, conducted before President Rumen Radev announced his intention to resign, Borissov explained that his acceptance of the current budget was a temporary compromise aimed at ensuring the government’s survival until the end of the year and the country’s entry into the euro area.

Borissov firmly rejected claims that GERB depends politically on Delyan Peevski, parliamentary leader of DPS-New Beginning. According to him, any joint votes or cooperation occur solely when measures serve the public interest. He stressed that while he would back initiatives beneficial to citizens, he would not support actions linked to repression, including in the context of future judicial reforms.

Reflecting on earlier cooperation with We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (WCC-DB), Borissov said judicial reform had been presented to him in overly technical terms. He recalled discussions with former Democratic Bulgaria co-chair Hristo Ivanov, during which he offered unconditional support for proposed reforms, only for the process to later involve Peevski as well. In Borissov’s view, some of the resulting proposals later proved poorly conceived.

Commenting on the large anti-government protests in November and December, Borissov said voters from WCC, Democratic Bulgaria, Revival, Greatness, MECH, and supporters of President Radev effectively united against the cabinet. He denied accusations of arrogance or repression by GERB ministers, MPs, or prime ministers, while admitting that governing partners had insufficient time to negotiate a detailed coalition agreement.

On amendments to the Election Code, Borissov said There Is Such a People (TISP) had pledged early support for eurozone accession and the Recovery and Resilience Plan in exchange for backing changes to electoral legislation, but denied any similar arrangement with DPS-New Beginning. He clarified that the debate focused on machine voting and scanning devices, predicting that voting would continue with existing machines and paper ballots, with scanning technology possibly introduced later. In his assessment, the core problems of elections lie at the polling-station level.

Borissov was sharply critical of President Radev, accusing him of effectively governing alone for two to three years through caretaker cabinets, without parliamentary oversight. According to Borissov, this concentration of power led to constitutional amendments. He described it as inappropriate for a president to be perceived as a political leader while enjoying the privileges of office, insisting the head of state must remain equally distant from all parties. Borissov also said Radev had not given a full account of his nine-year presidency and focused mainly on criticising others, adding that as prime minister he had consistently given institutional priority to the president.

Looking ahead to a potential election victory, Borissov outlined plans for major infrastructure projects to be built entirely with private capital through concessions, including a tunnel under Petrohan and the Rila and Black Sea motorways, in order to avoid burdening taxpayers. He also argued for stronger state investment in supercomputers, centres of excellence, and high-tech industries, highlighting Bulgaria’s mineral resources, alongside continued emphasis on education and healthcare.

On foreign policy, Borissov said Bulgaria needs a balanced approach between the European Union and the United States. He claimed he is uniquely positioned to manage this balance, arguing that full alignment with Brussels does not have to come at the expense of relations with Washington. According to him, Bulgaria’s credibility within the EU and NATO has contributed to full Schengen accession, based on confidence in the country’s ability to protect its borders.

Source: Capital.bg