site.btaYes, Bulgaria Party Sees Breach of EU Common Policy

MP Bozhidar Bozhanov, co-chair of Yes, Bulgaria and deputy floor leader of the Continue the Change–Democratic Bulgaria (CC–DB) parliamentary group, called Bulgaria's accession to the Gaza Board of Peace a breach of the EU's common policy during a press conference on Thursday.

The document which brought Bulgaria into the initiative was signed by the country's outgoing Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov during the founding ceremony of the organization on Thursday.

"We believe this is an inappropriate and dangerous move by a government that has already lost its legitimacy to make such decisions", said Bozhanov. According to him, this move is worrying because other countries represented in the Board of Peace include those with authoritarian regimes such as Belarus, and Bulgaria should not have a place there, especially before this has been discussed and a common EU position has been taken.

Congratulating Nickolay Mladenov on his appointment, Bozhanov pointed out that the Board's remit extends far beyond Gaza and that such a decision cannot be made by an outgoing government without consulting parliament.

MP Atanas Slavov (CC-DB) said that the actions of the prime minister and the foreign minister are in direct conflict with several constitutional provisions. According to Slavov, the joint initiative for the Gaza Board of Peace aims to undermine the principles of international law and duplicate the UN's decision-making mechanism.

According to the Constitution of Bulgaria, the country can join international organizations such as the Gaza Board of Peace after the Council of Ministers has been consulted on the matter and an international treaty has been presented and ratified by the National Assembly. Slavov added that none of these things happened before the announcement by the prime minister and foreign minister.

"President Rumen Radev is not taking any action on this matter. It is Boyko Borissov and his government who are doing so at the request of Delyan Peevski", said Ivaylo Mirchev, the other co-chair of Yes, Bulgaria.

When asked about expectations for a new meeting of the Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs to propose amendments, Bozhanov replied that no last-minute amendments could remedy the attempt to disrupt the elections. If the issue of changes to the Electoral Code is raised again in parliament, the party will use all parliamentary means at their disposal to prevent the introduction of voting scanners, he added.