Sofia and Ankara, which have been avoiding for a very long time tension related to the migrant crisis, confronted twice in one week only on election issues. First, the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs protested against the recent statement of Turkey’s Minister of Labor and Social Security Mehmet Muezzinoglu. Bulgaria interpreted his statement as unacceptable support towards a given political party and interference in Bulgaria’s home affairs. Bulgaria’s Foreign Ministry reminded that Turkey itself banned all types of political propaganda related to the forthcoming Parliamentary elections in Bulgaria. One day later, Ankara called on Bulgaria to cease its measures aimed at limiting political rights of the minorities. According to Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the fact that the number of polling stations is restricted to 35 in non-EU countries impedes the Bulgarian nationals in Tukey to cast their ballots at the elections. Following a series of violent disputes the Bulgarian political parties introduced that restriction last year, but Ankara did not react immediately. Apparently, Turkey’s sensitization on that issue is not only due to Sofia’s protest, but also to similar criticism expressed by Germany which intended to restrict political agitations of Turkish officials on its territory related to the forthcoming referendum in Turkey. Bulgaria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on Turkey to make sure such violations would not happen in the future. Thus, the two countries will be able to focus on more important topics in their bilateral relations. Bulgaria’s caretaker Premier Ognyan Gerdzhikov only called the agitation of Turkey’s Labor Minister inappropriate. However, Bulgaria has not abandoned the arguments of its protest and the country’s Foreign Ministry reaffirmed its stand after Turkey’s official response. The statement of Bulgaria’s caretaker cabinet that there are more important topics in the Bulgaria-Turkey bilateral relations is quite reasonable. However, a regular Bulgarian goverment should discuss those topics with Turkey after the early Parliamentary elections on March 26.
English version: Kostadin Atanasov
The seventh election campaign in the political marathon of the past three years is drawing to a close. Have we heard any ideas for a way out of this crisis? Have the no longer surprising news of vote-buying attempts, which once again failed to reveal the..
If the general elections were to be held today, GERB-SDS would earn 24.5% of the votes, followed by Vazrazhdane with 13.7% and We Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria with 12.1%. BSP – United Left garners 8.8%, The Alliance for Rights and..
Parties from broad coalition in Romania face off on eve of elections Two months before the elections for president and for parliament in Romania, the ruling social democrats and liberals entered into a heated debate over the ruling by the..
For the seventh time in three years, Bulgarians went to the polls, and the results shed light on some of the behind-the-scenes manoeuvring. A seemingly..
Partly Cloudy
Clear