The ruling party and the opposition argued about the procedure for the Budget Committee meeting before the final vote on the 2006 budget. Assen Vassilev, chairman of the We Continue the Change party, attempted to block the committee’s extraordinary session.

In response to opposition claims that the European Commission had warned Sofia about a budget deficit exceeding the permitted 3%, Boyko Borissov, leader of the main ruling party GERB, countered that the actual deficit was lower. He said that after accounting for the EU-approved extra defense spending, the deficit comes to 2.7%.

Borisov also emphasised that there are troubling elements in Article 14 of the newly announced peace plan for Ukraine, particularly with regard to shared obligations. He stated that Sofia may need to allocate an additional €600 million to support the plan.

Editor: Ivo Ivanov

Posted in English by E. Radkova