/ world today news/ “Having hit a snag with the president, the cabinet is looking to transfer the hot potato to the parliament”, the MEP believes
“The fact that the money under our Recovery Plan is delayed can logically be connected to the Bulgarian veto on North Macedonia. This is a type of political pressure that Bulgaria should not succumb to. This money is a small detail in the historical path of Bulgaria, which is punctuated by much bigger events. The stakes to preserve our history, language, culture, self-esteem are much higher than to put money into our failing economy.”
Ivo Hristov, a member of the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the EP (S&D) and head of the president’s office Rumen Radev in the period 2017-2019, commented on this on the air of the program “Speak Now” on BNT.
“There is already a debt counter in the center of Sofia – as you can see, we are getting more and more in debt. Promises are generous, and all fires are extinguished with promises of aid. The fact that European money is blocked for the time being does not mean that Bulgaria does not spend and does not go into debt“, the MEP thinks.
According to him, the ruling coalition does not want to take responsibility for the veto on North Macedonia, as it would lose external support.
“If he doesn’t stand the veto, then he will lose internal support. Faced with this doubly losing situation, the government is looking for someone to share the responsibility with. On whose back to transfer it. The first and most convenient joint responsible with the cabinet is the president, because of the high degree of trust in him and because he hinders everyone with his authority and reputation as a person who tells the truth, in whom the Bulgarians believe. He has no reason to convene the CSNC. A council on the same topic has already been held with a very clear framework for negotiations and behavior on the part of Bulgaria. Once it hits a snag there, the government is looking to pass the hot potato to parliament, where, at the very least, they will force the opposition parties to weigh in on the issue. Each of them also calculates how they will be seen abroad.”
According to Ivo Hristov, the topic of North Macedonia can set the cabinet on fire, but there are also a number of other trials that he has to deal with.
“Bulgarian citizens are very tired and nervous about what is happening in the country – the prices are galloping, the announcements about the increase in the price of thermal energy are apocalyptic. All four parties in the ruling coalition risk losing votes in a possible early election and will seek to preserve the coalition regardless of the cost. As the sly wording “military-technical assistance” was found in order to present in some form the supply of arms to Ukraine, and apparently this is what we are talking about, judging by media investigations and the thanks of Ukrainian generals. In the same way, in this case, we will be looking for some formulation that will drown the fish in murky water”, predicts Ivo Hristov.
According to him, social tension is already a fact, and it inevitably escalates into a political one.
“Macedonia is the first stage of this parkour that the government will have to go through if it wants to survive. All the prerequisites for instability are present. For some of them, the government is directly responsible – like the energy impasse we’ve found ourselves in; such as the inefficient actions to secure food in Bulgaria.”
The MEP also commented on the looming food crisis: “One third of grain exports on the world market come from Russia and Ukraine. In the case of missiles flying over the Black Sea, it is difficult for any company to agree to insure the transport, and it will also be difficult to find carriers. Leaving aside the unknowns related to hostilities and land transport. And, of course, the smaller crop in Ukraine, some of which has been affected by the hostilities or is within their reach. Added to these circumstances is the drought in the US, which will reduce the harvest there, as well as in some areas of Europe. North African countries are likely to suffer the most, as they depend on a UN food security program that relies on grain from the very two suppliers currently at war.”
According to Ivo Hristov, the entire global market will be affected in terms of price, which cannot be compensated quickly, even within a year.
“I am afraid that the EU is unable to develop a common policy on the subject and has informally delegated to national governments to solve this problem, which is very difficult to solve. We must take care of our own sustenance. I believe that it is not particularly appropriate to compensate the end user by reducing or canceling the VAT on bread. It is much more reasonable to assume this responsibility at the producer level. They are few in number, in Bulgaria there are several dozen large producers who could limit their profits in a period of war,” the MEP believes.
According to him, the state must take administrative measures in this direction.
“Relying on market mechanisms in a time of war is irresponsible and unrealistic.” If we don’t realize it now, we will in a few more months. In some countries, they are already beginning to retreat from these market mechanisms,” Ivo Hristov is emphatic.
The MEP also commented on the latest development of relations between Ukraine and Poland: “It remains to be seen how events will develop, but the announcements foreshadow some kind of unification; at least at the level of customs, citizens’ rights, etc. This is a step towards the escalation of the war. At a certain point, Russia will wage war against a country that does not have a border with a neighboring country, whose citizens may be in officer and other administrative positions in Ukraine itself. This is worrying and I am surprised that European capitals are silent on the subject. They rightly accepted the annexation of Crimea as a matter of changing state borders – something inviolable as a principle in post-war Europe – and now they are silent.”
According to Ivo Hristov, in the general chaos of the collapse of international law, each of the countries that have claims to their neighbors, have minorities in neighboring countries, will be tempted to seek national unification.
“All kinds of great power ambitions are awakening. This is especially dangerous in the Balkans, where there is a Bulgarian population everywhere in the surrounding countries, there are also all kinds of other impurities. The former Yugoslavia is a mosaic of nationalities. It is not clear how far this domino will stop if it is toppled. In many places it can overthrow stability, not only along the Ukrainian border.”
When asked whose vision would prevail – that of Kissinger or that of Soros, from the Davos forum – Hristov noted that for all his sins as a politician on a global level, Henry Kissinger was the man who led the United States out of the Vietnam War and contributed to its victory in The Cold War: “A politician and diplomat with a vision. George Soros is a strategist of globalism that is crumbling before our eyes. Time will tell whose opinion will be justified.”
To contact the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the EP:
#Ivo #Hristov #government #responsibility #veto #North #Macedonia
