site.btaDefence Committee Backs Draft Resolution Concerning Peace Board Accession, Draft Amendments to Social Assistance Act

At an extraordinary sitting on Thursday, the parliamentary Defence Committee backed a draft resolution concerning Bulgaria's accession to the Board of Peace, as well as a bill to amend and supplement the Social Assistance Act.

The MPs voted, 9-0 with one abstention, to approve a draft resolution requiring the Council of Ministers to present in Parliament a ratification bill on Bulgaria's accession to the Board of Peace. The draft document was submitted by MRF-New Beginning Floor Leader Delyan Peevski on Wednesday.

On January 22, then prime minister Rosen Zhelyazkov announced that Bulgaria joined the Board of Peace under the patronage of the United States and President Donald Trump.

Stanislav Anastasov MP of MRF-New Beginning said on Thursday: "We have welcomed this initiative since its creation and cannot fail to note the historic contribution of Rosen Zhelyazkov, who took the bold step of making Bulgaria part of the Board of Peace."

The Defence Committee also voted, 11-0 with one abstention, to approve the draft amendments to the Social Assistance Act. GERB-UDF Deputy Floor Leader Denitsa Sacheva, who introduced the bill, said it is about a new supplement for pensioners for Christmas and Easter. Until now, the funds have been paid from the budget of the National Social Security Institute, which is not right because they should be used to cover various social insurance risks, said Sacheva. In addition, the minimum pension is used as the threshold for granting the supplement, without taking into account other income of pensioners, meaning that the supplement is sometimes distributed unfairly.