Prime Minister Rumen Radev’s remarks on Monday about an alleged dilemma between peace and war and a need to choose between democracy in Bulgaria and a government based on unprincipled compromise (known as an “assemblage”), and his announcement that the 2027 state budget bill will be unveiled after the legally established deadline of October 31, drew criticism from Continue the Change (CC) leader Assen Vassilev. He joined the opposition’s outcry against Radev’s statements, which came after the first round of voting in Bulgaria’s presidential election on October 25 and ahead of the runoff on November 1.
Vassilev told journalists: “Radev has taken it upon himself to frighten Bulgarian citizens with the prospect of war, which began in 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine. From then until this summer, many governments had changed, yet Bulgaria had not allowed ships to be sunk in its territorial waters or exclusive economic zone, nor had it allowed drones to violate its airspace. Then Radev became Prime Minister, with Iotova as President, and they started spinning around like tops, sending signals of weakness, and suddenly drones began falling and ships began being sunk. So Rumen Radev and Iliana Iotova brought the war to Bulgaria. If Bulgarian citizens want the war to continue in Bulgaria, they should vote for Iotova. If they want our country to be protected, they should vote for someone who will speak normally with our allies and take a firm position.”
Vassilev added: “They can save all the other talk about peace that we hear for international beauty pageants and Miss Universe, where they also want peace. The question is whether you know how to achieve it. Neither Radev nor Iotova knows how to defend Bulgaria’s borders and achieve peace. They should go and enter Miss Universe.”
He went on to comment: “The reason for the collapse in support for Progressive Bulgaria and for Rumen Radev’s hysterical fixation on the word ‘assemblage’ is that he is trying to lie to Bulgarian citizens, telling them one thing in the morning and another in the evening, and hoping they have no memory.”
Vassilev recalled the recent high-profile killings and the Prime Minister’s statement that they “will continue”, as well as his claim that they were happening because oligarchs were killing one another. “My question is: the man [former politician Slavi Binev] who was killed on Saturday, who supported Ms Iotova and was a close friend of Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev, with whom he was supposed to open a taekwondo tournament on the day of the killing – was he an oligarch?” Vassilev asked.
Andrey Gurov, who will face Iotova in the presidential election runoff, “has done the most important thing by asking Bulgarian citizens for their support,” Vassilev said. He does not believe that deals should be struck at party headquarters to choose the country’s President. “The President should be elected by Bulgarian citizens,” Vassilev replied when asked by a reporter whether Gurov should seek support from party headquarters for the runoff.
Commenting on the expected start of the 2027 state budget procedure, he noted: “I have just learned that there will be no meeting of the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation this week, which means that the Public Finance Act will be violated and the budget will not be submitted to Parliament before October 31.”
“What are you hiding, Mr Radev? What is in this budget that you do not want to show it to Bulgarian citizens before next Sunday’s elections?” asked Vassilev, who is former finance minister.
He said the main budget parameters are clear. “For the first time, you have explicitly stated in a budget that citizens will become poorer, as their incomes will rise by less than inflation. What will you spend the money on, given that, while making people poorer, you still cannot keep the government deficit below 3%?” Vassilev added.
Vassilev Accuses Radev and Iotova of Bringing War to Bulgaria 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-10-26 15:39:29
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BULGARIA NEWS – NEWS AGENCY 2009–2026 2026-10-26 15:39:29