site.btaPM Distances Himself and Government from Chinese Visit of Deputy PM and One Minister

Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov Tuesday distanced himself and the government from the ongoing visit to China of Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Zafirov and Regional Development Minister Ivan Ivanov. Speaking to reporters in the Black Sea city of Burgas, he said the visit is "a party initiative and the government is uninvolved". 

Also, he said that Zafirov and Ivanov have taken paid leave to go to China. 

"I saw, just like you, that they are in China on an official party visit. I guess that the two socialist parties are exchanging experiences. They have not been sent there by me or the government, and the government has nothing to do with the party initiatives of the parties in the coalition," said Zhelyazkov. 

He said further, "You know that the coalition brings together parties of various political profiles and what unites us is the common goals and not the differences. If we start focusing on the differences, the government will lose what binds the coalition together very quickly."

Also, he said that the "political consequences from such visits are for the respective party to shoulder". 

The press office of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) announced Monday that a delegation of BSP's coalition with the United Left is on an official visit to China headed by BSP Chair and Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Zafirov. The delegation is visiting on the invitation of the Communist Party of China. The Bulgarian socialists will attend a military parade in Beijing on September 3 and will travel to Shandong Province, where they will tour a factory involved in railway and highway construction, which was involved in the building of the Belgrade–Budapest railway. The delegation is also scheduled to meet with provincial party leaders. The parade will be attended by foreign leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. A total of 26 foreign heads of state and government will be present at the event, Deputy Foreign Minister Hong Lei said during a press conference quoted by the international news media. Also attending will be Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, and the Speaker of South Korea’s National Assembly, Woo Won-shik.