#Bulgaria - 'We need a new government that's going to be able to fight all the systematic problems'

Tsevetelina Penkova MEP (Socialists and Democrats Group, Bulgaria) said: “The are three main pillars in Bulgaria, we have a society saying that there is an actual problem in the country, we have the experts report from the European Commission and now we will have a political evaluation from the European Parliament. So I believe that those three pillars are enough to prove that there is a problem in Bulgaria and that we need democratic elections to elect a new government that's going to be able to fight all the systematic problems we have, at the moment.” Tsevetelina said that while the legal and institutional framework was in place, the system was not working in practice.

There have been investigations into corruption, but rarely any trials or convictions. Elena Yoncheva MEP (Socialists and Democrats Group, Bulgaria), addressing MEPs said that the Borissov had been in power for 10 years, and has allowed Bulgaria's EU membership to be used against its people while the government engaged in ever more abuses of power. Yoncheva appealed to the German presidency not to stay silent and let things continue as they currently are. She ended by saying: “Bulgaria’s pain is the pain of the entire EU.”