Europe cannot solve Bulgaria's domestic problems, former Prime Minister and current Party of European Socialists (PES) head Sergey Stanishev has said.

In an interview with daily 24 Chasa on the occasion of Bulgaria's membership anniversary, he has warned against using the mantra of "instructions from Brussels" for political ends.

While 10 years ago the phrase was needed to carry out "painful reforms", now it is mostly the government's rating that benefits from it, Stanishev has said.

"The EU is to stay in every Bulgarian home - there is always someone from the family working or studying in Europe," he has also said.

"Today I am bewildered by the schadenfreude of some Euroskeptics [who say] we joined a community that is falling apart and is being torn by crises, with no pilot on board. [They also say] nothing in our lives has changed - we are the poorest in Europe and see no perspective."

"This is not true. Let us imagine where Bulgaria would be now if it weren't a member of the EU. How would we have dealt with the refugees? What position would we have adopted on Turkey and how big a financial resource would we have dedicated to guarding our border?... How would we have coped without EU funding?"

Stanishev, however, has also warned of "tectonic changes" due in the EU - "the most dramatic ones since World War Two that will unfold throughout the entire 2017."

He has blamed "neo-liberalism" for putting the EU in jeopardy and neglecting solidarity.

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