/ world today news/ BSP leader Mihail Mikov identified the demographic crisis as a major problem and insisted on a left-wing policy to deal with it.
He said this today in Kardzhali, where he arrived to support the candidate for mayor Georgi Kyuchukov, reported the correspondent of BGNES for the region. “For us, it is important that the children in the peripheral parts of Bulgaria, such as Kardzhali, Smolyan, Vidin, Montana, Silistra, are at the center of national policies and, of course, at the center of municipal policies. Because the poverty in these areas is murderous, and despite the ethno-religious differences, the future of these areas is unthinkable without the special measures that both the state and the municipalities can implement for children from poor families,” stressed Mikov. He gave as an example the free kindergartens in Targovishte, which is due to the efforts of the socialist mayor in this ethnically mixed region. According to him, the socio-economic uniformity of people in Kardzhali region should dominate over ethnic and religious attitudes.
Asked what the BSP will do to reduce migration, Mikov emphasized that the party alone could not deal with this problem. But on the last working day of the parliament before the summer vacation, the proposal was unanimously accepted for the cabinet to work out short-term and long-term measures regarding the demographic crisis, he recalled. People will continue to leave their hometowns and go either to several large cities in Bulgaria or to abroad, because without a conscious policy, funds are diverted, there is no change in right-wing politics, predicted the leader of the socialists.
“This is the most pressing issue facing the country and we will continue to be so insistent on clear policy.” It is left-wing politics that can give perspective to the demographic crisis. The other is mainly channeling funds to highways, to defense. It is not clear what the budget for social activities will look like, but for defense it is clear that there will be an increase of 150 million BGN, this is a right-wing policy and those who did not feel it will understand it gradually”, commented Mihail Mikov. He clarified that the army has no function in the context of the refugee crisis, unless someone intends to involve the Bulgarian army in military operations on Bulgarian territory.
“Internal security is a completely different, European understanding of border security. In this sense, heavy weaponry hardly has anything to do with the refugee crisis, are we going to stop the refugees with airplanes?” asked Mikov. He reproached the President Rosen Plevneliev for not fulfilling his obligation to convene the CSNS every three months, as is required by law. “It’s good that he remembered now about the beginning of November. In August, the left demanded an extraordinary session of the parliament, but it was denied, as well as the convening of the CSNS on the grounds that in 2013 there was such a gathering. Now I understand that the topic is global security, but I think that this is a council for national, not global security, and it would be good if its agenda corresponds to its function,” emphasized Mikhail Mikov.
He was welcomed by local BSP leaders and a group of activists and supporters in the central city park. Only the BSP can afford to hold meetings in the open, despite the cold, said ex-MP Milko Bagdasarov. “I know that being a BSP candidate for mayor in an area like Kardzhali requires loyalty to ideas for more justice and more solidarity, for freedom. In such areas, Turks, Roma and Bulgarians live equally poor, their children collect pennies for breakfast at school, and many of them drop out of school. About 70% of the children in such areas use the benefits for first-graders because they are from poor families,” Mihail Mikov pointed out to those gathered around him in the park. According to him, the danger of social exclusion is very great and the party must explain this to the people.
“One cannot vote only because of some non-political, but financial motives or fear. People must begin to gradually shake off the fear. It is high time that people understand that the BSP is the only party that offers a platform for the majority of Bulgarian citizens, regardless of their ethnicity,” commented Mikov. He assessed the pre-election work in places as “a real political campaign without buying votes, without any threats, while pressuring the workers in the state structures, because this is the way to return democratic rules in our country.” However, the leader of the BSP emphasized that in our country we are quite far from the exercise of democracy, according to him, it is formal when a person is afraid for his job, for his bread, for the future of his children. Mikov supported the signature initiated by the local BSP to hold a referendum on the separation of the town of Kardzhali into an independent municipality. An activist from the village of Brosh presented him with a bag full of 6 types of locally produced halva. He later headed to Ardino with the intention of supporting the mayoral candidate.
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