BSP has demanded resignations because of the African swine fever, which has already caused a state of emergency in some regions of the country - in Ruse, Pleven and Razgrad. In front of the media in parliament, BSP stated that they wanted the resignations of the director of the Bulgarian Labor Office Damian Iliev and the agriculture minister Desislava Taneva.
Socialists say the government has failed to fulfil its obligations. "The responsible persons did not do their job two years ago.
They did not act adequately in the days and hours in the beginning of the crisis. They haven’t clearly explained to the citizens and the farmers what they have to do, so we think they have to bear political responsibility, "said Pencho Milkov, a left-wing Ruse MP. According to him, the chairperson of the Central Epizootic Board, Tomislav Donchev, should also make a statement and act.
"The disease has been in Romania for years, and we watched it approaching the border with Bulgaria and what measures the Romanian state is taking," Milkov said.
GERB also replicated through the media in the National Assembly. Do not politicise the subject, Maria Belova said. She emphasised that the institutions - the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Defense have taken all necessary actions to limit the contagion.
Belova urged farmers who keep animals in their backyard to be sufficiently accountable to take the necessary action required by the Ministry of Agriculture and Foods and the BFSA. The Bulgarian Food Safety Agency traces 35 days back of the finished products from all registered pig farms in the country and is constantly conducting laboratory tests, said the MP from GERB and urged all those interested to fight to save the pigs in Bulgaria.