„For me, as a socialist, the idea that we will give a lot of money for armaments instead of social spending, I do not like. But given that this policy will be implemented, we must do what is necessary for Bulgarian enterprises to be able to participate in this process. When such funds are invested, it means more opportunities for the industry, jobs, higher wages. Bulgaria must act quickly. The Bulgarian military industry has great potential, but it needs support for enterprises for technological renewal.“ This was stated by the head of the Delegation of the Bulgarian Socialists in the European Parliament, Christian Vigenin, to Euronews Bulgaria.
„In the European Parliament, the majority understands that it is indeed necessary for the European Union to catch up in the field of armaments and defense. There are nuances regarding the approach due to the risks in the financing method. We, the socialists, believe that the idea of redirecting money from the cohesion funds to armaments is unrealistic, because it could create other problems“, commented the MEP. He expressed his concerns about the hypothesis of giving hundreds of billions, without clarity on what and how these funds will be used, because defense capabilities are not necessarily related to purchasing and producing more weapons.
“There is no clear concept. Will there be an opportunity in the future to build purely European capabilities? This rearmament would make sense if we are trying to create a European pillar of NATO that would act independently in certain situations“, commented Christian Vigenin.
Regarding the case of the Bulgarian European Prosecutor Teodora Georgieva, Christian Vigenin expressed satisfaction that the European Prosecutor's Office has taken action, because otherwise it would be a stain on her. “Bulgarian institutions that fight corruption must step up and cooperate in the investigation, because the doubts are real and show deformations of the judicial system“, Vigenin pointed out. He also asked questions – how some of the cadres are promoted and whether there is a system that supports certain people to move forward against certain commitments, as well as why the recording is released after years – whether it is related to a specific investigation and commitments made that have not been fulfilled. The MEP expects answers from the institutions to all these questions, because they are owed to the citizens.
Regarding the vote of no confidence in the government, Christian Vigenin commented that the vote shows that parliamentary support for the “Zhelyazkov“ cabinet is not only not decreasing, but on the contrary – expands.
To contact the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the EP: https://www.socialistsanddemocrats.eu/
