Bulgaria’s President Radev Gives an Overview of His First Year in Office

One year ago, Mrs. Iliyana Yotova (Vice-President) stepped in this building, supported by the trust of over 2 million Bulgarians. After 12 very dynamic months, it is time to give an overview on our activities, Bulgaria’s President Rumen Radev said on 24^th of January at the start of the press conference on the occasion of his first year in office.

He covered the most important events under the President's Constitutional Powers, made a brief overview of today's reality, and outlined the main directions for further action.

The term began with the formation of a caretaker government, which impeccably fulfilled its main mission to organize the holding of elections. A National Framework Contract was signed in the healthcare. The government collected millions of overdue receivables and fees. Government-damaging schemes were intercepted. Sofia Airport concession procedure was suspended, he explained.

The caretaker government repealed Regulation 208 on the integration of foreigners , which was without clear criteria and mechanisms. However, the regular government hastened to restore the regulation without risk assessment for national security and without its thorough update. After consultations with all the parliamentary forces we presented a mandate for the formation of a government to the leader of GERB, Mr. Borisov.

For the first year of my term in office, I promulgated 86 laws, 5 of which I vetoed. I exercised this power in the interest of Bulgarian citizens, led by the belief that the laws in question are damaging or not guaranteeing the rights of Bulgarian citizens. Four of the vetoes were overridden, and two vetoes achieved results," he said, referring to the Concessions Act and the 2018 National Health Insurance Budget Act. The abolition of the moratorium on the new medicines preserved the hope of many heavily ill Bulgarians. I thank the parliament for agreeing to the arguments put forward in the veto, the president said.

Foreign Policy

The President said that during the past months he was guided by the principles that Bulgarian foreign policy must be shaped at home and stood up for abroad rather than the other way round. It must win friends and partners, not enemies, he added.

He paid 22 visits abroad during his first year in office.

From February to May 2017, I represented Bulgaria at four EU sessions, at which I proposed and substantiated the pledging of Cohesion Policy as a priority in the Rome Declaration. I raised the issue for united positionof the EU in the vent of foreign interference in the electoral process of an EU country. I called for genuine solidarity with first-line countries in relation to the migration crisis and for the revision of the Dublin Regulation. I tabled proposals for an EU Operational Action Plan if there is an increase of migration pressure on our border. I justified the necessity of Bulgaria's accession to Schengen. I focused on security, the European perspective and the connectivity of the Western Balkans. I signed the Rome Declaration, Radev said.

Radev stressed that he set the beginning of a normalization of relations with Russia, "which are strategically important for both Bulgaria and Europe." In his words, in the year in which we mark the 140th anniversary of the liberation from Ottoman rule, Bulgarian-Russian relations "must be taken out of the ice age" in which he found them.

In recent months, I represented Bulgaria at the session of the UN General Assembly, the NATO Summit, the World Climate Summit in Paris, the Three Seas Forum, and the Munich Security Conference. I believe that Bulgaria needs to be actively present and support all multilateral co-operation formats.

I had the privilege of being the first head of state accepted by the new director of UNESCO. Under my auspices, business forums were held in Berlin, Bucharest and Warsaw.

Our relations with Azerbaijan have shown that when the presidential institution and the government act in synergy, the results are in place. The direct flight service Baku-Sofia is the result of our common efforts. The government accepted as a real commitment the invitation I made to President Ilhan Aliyev to participate in Bulgaria's domestic gasification.

A particularly important moment of my trips is the meetings with the Bulgarian communities abroad. I met Bulgarians in the US, Germany, France, Romania, Poland, Greece and Cyprus. I was impressed by their hard-working efforts to preserve the relationship with their homeland.

Macroeconomic indicators are good, but they can not hide that the level of foreign investment is extremely low. Demographic indicators are catastrophic.

The adopted anti-corruption law is simply weak, but it also runs the risk of abuse. With a clear awareness of its inefficiency, I vetoed it. With it, the government has fulfilled its commitments formally to the European Commission, but not to the Bulgarian citizens. It is clear that the fight against corruption will continue to be conducted by citizens and the media.

The parliamentary republic is atrophying and parliament is becoming more and more a notary, which stamps the government's decrees. When the highest authority of the state weakens, all institutions weaken. In his opinion, corruption demoralises the whole of society. "Freedom of speech is ин question." We must stand up for our democratic rights without expecting assistance and understanding from Europe. Brussels's indifference should not demotivate us, but make us more zealous. This is a battle for our rights, " the president said.

My activity as President next year will be devoted to safeguarding the democratic rights of Bulgarians Radev noted. I will also stimulate the debate on freedom of speech, he added.

The introduction of e-Governance cannot be delayed anymore, he noted.

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