Bulgaria could join the eurozone in 2025 and the job could be carried out not only by a regular cabinet, but also by a caretaker cabinet, outgoing Finance Minister Assen Vassilev told Nova TV on Sunday.
“The European Commission sent a clear message last week after it became clear that there is no government in Bulgaria. The European Council's conclusion is that the Commission welcomes Bulgaria's progress,” Vasilev said. “The only response left is inflation.'' You can request a report as soon as you meet this criteria. ”
Vasilyov also discussed Bulgaria's accession to Schengen, which only partially became a reality on Sunday, as air and sea border controls between Bulgaria and the Schengen area were lifted, while land border controls remained. The finance minister said talks with Austria on the land border issue were ongoing and should be addressed by the future Bulgarian transitional government. He does not expect future elections to be significantly delayed in the country due to the union of Bulgaria and Romania. “It will help if the two countries work together. Once the Netherlands decided to support full entry, including by land, there is no way to split the coalition,” he explained. He added that a decision on the land border issue could be taken by the end of 2024, and restrictions could be lifted in 2025.
In Bulgaria's recent history, the finance minister continued, there is only one interior minister who has succeeded in limiting vote-buying and electoral fraud, and that is Boyko Rushkov. He said the incumbent Karin Stoyanov had failed and should be replaced, but that was up to Prime Minister nominee Dimitar Grafchev and President Rumen Radev. Vasilyov fears that the voting process will be manipulated “again” to discredit machine voting in favor of paper ballots. Using only paper ballots makes election fraud much easier, he said.
Vasilev, co-chairman of Continue the Change (CC), one of the parties supporting the outgoing government, said that “last Friday” (presumably meaning March 22) he met CC leader Boyko Borisov. He said he met him at the Diet. Partner GERB. “It was a very cordial meeting,” Vassilev noted. He asked Borisov whether the GERB was prepared to abandon the fixed competition for recruiting members of the regulator. “Probably,” Borisov said, questioning whether the Bulgarian state was ready for that.
/VE/
