site.btaSofia Mayor Vassil Terziev Rejects Political Pressure, Reaffirms Reform Agenda

In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Sofia Mayor Vassil Terziev said that he was not elected by the people of Sofia to make unprincipled deals, but to break with the old corrupt practices. “I was elected to end the old schemes, stop uncontrolled spending, return power to the people, halt overdevelopment, improve public systems, and build kindergartens, sidewalks, metro lines, but most importantly – trust,” he wrote.

Terziev acknowledged facing strong resistance in the Sofia Municipal Council (SMC) and said he knows where it's coming from: “When you don’t call [GERB leader Boyko] Borissov, don’t ask [MRF – New Beginning Chair Delyan] Peevski for approval, and don’t belong to the circles of [Hristoforos Amanatidis] Taki, Krasyo the Black, the Wolf, Orlin Alexiev, and other shadow figures of the old model – the system pushes back. With pressure, intimidation, through unions, institutions, controlled media. Through threats,” the mayor wrote.

He emphasized his commitment to principles and accountability: “I didn’t come here to please the powerful ones. I came to do the work – to bring order, transparency, and stop the waste.”

He added that if a majority is to be formed in the Municipal Council, it will be based on principles, transparency, accountability, and open dialogue, not backroom deals: “Sofia is not a transaction. Sofia is a cause.”

Earlier on Wednesday, GERB leader Boyko Borissov responded to criticism from Continue the Change co-leader Kiril Petkov, who accused him of distributing BGN 15 million from the government without accountability. If they do not want the money, let the mayor return it, said Borissov.

On Monday, the six-day blockade on Sofia's surface public transport was lifted after the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) – the organization representing the striking public transport workers, said that they are lifting it after the government allocated BGN 15 million to Sofia Municipality. The breakthrough came following the intervention of GERB party leader Boyko Borissov, who, in an unofficial capacity, instructed the government to provide the funds needed to meet the workers’ financial demands. Just days earlier, Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova had insisted that no such money was available. Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov’s cabinet made the decision amid a large demonstration in support of Sofia Mayor Vassil Terziev and efforts to ensure that 12th-grade students in the capital could reach their schools for upcoming matriculation exams on Wednesday and Friday.