"Vazrazhdane" at the talks with the President: We will talk about forming a government with anyone who understands our positions

Bulgaria's Head of State, Rumen Radev, on November 9 held talks with representatives of “Vazrazhdane” parliamentary group, as part of his consultations before he hands over the first exploratory mandate for the formation of a government.

"The consultations are important because the crises are no longer on our doorsteps, but inside - social, economic, war, increased migration pressure. That's why we need a government that will take decisions with a long-term horizon and have the support of a sustainable parliamentary majority. At the same time, the National Assembly is facing urgent legislative activities - the adoption of the budget, the laws on the Recovery and Resilience Plan and the filling the leadership of the bodies with expired term of office " President Rumen Radev said.

Kostadin Kostadinov, the chairman of "Vazrazhdane", said that the party is ready for talks with all political forces that respond with understanding to the party's positions.

"Vazrazhdane" is also ready to hold talks with GERB-UDF on the first mandate, but will defend its principles and the demand for a referendum on eurozone membership. The largest political group in Parliament has already refused a meeting on this issue, Kostadinov said.

We have a will and we also have a lineup proposal for a government ready,” Vazrazhdane leader told the President. “If things come to a third mandate, we are ready to ask you to give it to us. Certainly, it will be up to you to decide,” Kostadinov said.

The President asked "Vazrazhdane" if they thought holding a referendum on Bulgaria's membership in the eurozone would be legitimate, given that the country has already committed to joining the eurozone.

"The question will be about keeping the Bulgarian lev until it reaches 90% of the average European income. So we are not questioning the adoption of the euro, for now, but the timing of it. The Maastricht Treaty itself says that the euro should be adopted when the economies are more or less at the same level, because the euro is poison for weak economies," Kostadinov said.

President Rumen Radev urged "Vazrazhdane" to rather monitor how the country is implementing the Euro Adoption Plan and the Maastricht criteria, because they are not being implemented at the moment.

"I see this as the main task of the Parliament, the government and the political forces - to work in the best way to achieve better economic parameters," Radev said.

According to Vazrazhdane’ss calculations, at the current rate of economic development, Bulgaria would reach the European average income in 20 years.

So far, the President held consultations with the largest parliamentary group, GERB-UDF, then with"We Continue the Change" and the parliamentary group of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms.

Radev made a statement that he would carry the procedure through and give the parties enough time until they exhaust all possible options in search of a consensus to form a government.

Once the round of consultations is over, he will proceed to hand over the first exploratory mandate.