Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov announced that the measure with the confiscation of cars for drunk and drugged drivers would remain in place.
“I think it should stay, but that is within the powers of the NC. Again, I say very clearly, there is no reason to discuss the topic again after consuming alcohol. The results of the blood tests for alcohol come out very quickly.”
A task force is reviewing regulations and documents to see what can be done at the bylaw level. Separately, the purchase of equipment to speed up the verification of blood samples and drug tests has been arranged.
“Let me draw attention to the fact that for alcohol concentration, it is done at the moment, relatively quickly, in a few days the results come out, since the method is one. And for drugs, the method is different and, accordingly, more time is required at the moment. So we need to equip 3 laboratories, we are currently working at a state-of-the-art level. This will take time because of the procedures. In terms of discussions about whether the law should be changed, we see that after these tragic events that are happening, in fact, the public support for these changes are getting bigger and bigger. I also think that we should remain as strict as possible so that the Bulgarians understand that it makes no sense to kill ourselves on the roads”.
On the occasion of the ongoing tension between the government and the president, the prime minister again called for the constitutional separation of powers to be respected.
Each institution must work according to what is assigned to them as rights and obligations. Our government is implementing its management program. Once again I will repeat, I am not looking for war with anyone. We need the calm of the government. I mean peace in the political sense of the word, so that we can fulfill our program and people can start living better. You see how many problems there are in the country. Those who prevent us from discussing them in essence – what we can do on the roads, how to reduce alcohol abuse and drugged drivers on the roads, these are the problems that the government should deal with”.
On the occasion of the request of prominent figures close to the president to initiate a referendum on whether to change the national holiday, Denkov responded as follows.
“Let this be a political discussion to be held in the National Assembly. That is the place for this discussion. I have repeatedly said that I support May 24 being a national holiday, because it is the symbol that leads us to the future. If Bulgaria had chance for success in the future, it is not to stare constantly at the past, but by standing firmly on the foundation that the past has laid, to look to the future and see what will make us a successful nation. Here we will discover the Book Alley today . This is the scientific event here, what will make Bulgaria successful.”
Denkov was laconic about the scandal with the adviser to the Minister of Defense Mustafa Emin:
“In every single situation of this type, the investigation must be completed successfully, so that it is clear what the facts are. It is not possible to make final conclusions and fire people on the basis of only one Facebook profile, one message. If it is true what is written in this post, I think the adviser should go. But if it turns out that this is in fact a covert attack that has other purposes, I would leave the minister to decide for himself.”
Denkov commented on the information that the US State Department has approved the provision of Stryker combat vehicles to Bulgaria for over BGN 1 billion. Without a decision by the Bulgarian Parliament and the Congress, negotiations cannot begin, he pointed out.
“We are all convinced that there is an urgent need to modernize the army, and again with an eye to the future. These are serious financial investments that should be useful for the country for tens of years to come. So negotiations are ahead to specify both the technical and financial parameters, but they could not start without a decision on the one hand by the Parliament and on the other hand by the US Congress. These negotiations can now take place. The important thing is that we have political agreement. We have financial resources allocated to all the main elements of the Bulgarian defense”.