SOFIA, April 08, /ITAR-TASS/. Georgi Parvanov, who was the President of Bulgaria in 2002-2012, has come out against anti-Russian sanctions and anti-Russian rhetoric of Ukraine’s current authorities, saying they have taken “the most extreme anti-Russian position in the history from the Liberation till the present day.”
“It is inexplicable and inadmissible that representatives from leftist parties, who have always had warn sentiments towards Russia, have joined the ranks of hawks,” he said at a meeting with voters in the city of Yambol.
He said we was against the idea of anti-Russian sanction “not because such sanctions are inefficient but because they are unfair.” “What is to happen in case of economic sanctions, how will it impact our trade, tourism and the energy sector? Sanctions will hit people, businesses. Bulgaria should have a clear position on this,” he stressed.
In early April, Bulgaria’s Ataka party said it would initiate the resignation of the government in case it supported extra sanctions against Russia over the Ukrainian crisis, “If the current government supports additional sanctions, we shall demand its resignation,” Ventsislav Lykov, a member of the Bulgarian parliament, told Itar-Tass, adding that his country should be more resolute and independent in defending its own interests.
Still earlier, the party’s leader, Volen Siderov, voiced a similar position. “The United States’ geopolitical interests are pushing Europe in the wrong direction,” he told Itar-Tass. “I am confident of that and I think it is high time for the European Union to begin its sovereign movement in accordance with European interests, but not to try to please colleagues from the United States. In this sense, the sanctions the European Union’s lobbyists are pressing through are a big mistake. To my mind, Bulgaria’s National Assembly must pass a decision not to take part in these sanctions, to speak up against them. Bulgaria should express this position clearly, it should not hide behind Brussels.”
“Now, we are the only party in Bulgaria that has such a position, both in and off the parliament. The rest, let us say, hold on to pro-European, anti-Bulgarian, as a matter of fact, positions,” Siderov stressed. “As a patriotic party, we say that this policy is harmful to Bulgaria and our leaders must understand this. The European Union is not barracks, where one is supposed to strictly fulfill orders. The European Union is a commonwealth of states possessing equal rights. At least, this is what is stated in its documents and Bulgaria has the right to have its own opinion. We are ready to defend this right of the Bulgarian people.