‘We will never give up’ Anti-EU Bulgarian rebels pledge to be huge thorn in Brussels’ side
BRUSSELS is bracing for a new anti-EU force in Bulgaria as citizens of the eastern member state prepare to go to the polls today.
For the first time, the anti-EU Bulgaria of Labour and Reason party will run in the member state’s general election and its leader, Raicho Markov, is preparing to be Brussels’ biggest enemy in Bulgaria. Mr Markov, who hopes Bulgaria will soon follow the UK outside the bloc, told Express.co.uk that today’s vote is the most important for the future of his organisation.
But regardless of the outcome, he pledged to stick around and to never give up against what he sees as the EU’s undemocratic power encroaching on Bulgaria’s sovereignty.
He said: “If we get even just one percent at the elections, we will have such power to spread our ideas among Bulgarian people that at the next elections we could be the first political party in the country.
“I’m not exaggerating.”
He continued: “If we get less than one percent, it’s going to be very disappointing.
“But we won’t give up.
“We won’t give up. We will never give up.”
Bulgarians are heading to the polls today for a snap election after the country’s centre-right GERB party failed to form a government as other parties have shunned it amid popular anger at endemic graft.
GERB won April’s election with 26.2 percent of the vote.
Bulgaria’s new anti-establishment party There Is Such a People (ITN) also failed to secure a parliamentary majority.
The two parties are now almost tied up for support, a poll revealed on Monday.
Founded by popular TV talk-show host and singer Slavi Trifonov, ITN has pledged to sweep away traditional political parties, which it blames for the Balkan country consistently ranking as the European Union’s poorest and most corrupt member state.
The poll by Sofia-based independent Market Links showed support for ITN rising to 18.8 percent from the 17.7 percent it won in an April general election.
Interim Cabinet allegations of wire-tapping of politicians and activists during anti-graft protests last year and information about the spending of billions of taxpayer money without proper public procurement by the GERB government have also weighed on the party’s popularity.
A recent poll by the ECFR found that only one in five in Bulgaria think that their national political system “works well”.
The survey found that Bulgarians hold the EU in higher regard. A plurality of respondents believe the European institutions in Brussels “work well”.
But of the 12 countries surveyed, respondents in Bulgaria were also the most likely to see Russia in a favourable light – with 75 percent viewing Vladimir Putin’s Russia as an “ally” or “necessary partner” for their country.
And just over half of Bulgarian respondents (50.3 percent) said the EU should avoid conflict with Turkey over internal affairs and prioritise its trade and security relationship with Ankara.
This is a much higher proportion of respondents than in any other country surveyed, where fewer than 15 percent of people agree.
By Alessandra Scotto di Santolo
source:express.co.uk