The newly elected President and Vice President of Bulgaria, Rosen Plevneliev and Margarita Popova, were sworn in in the Bulgarian Parliament under the tunes of the National Anthem and of the Anthem of United Europe. Rosen Plevneliev is the fourth democratically elected president of Bulgaria. He won the elections held last October. Plevneliev succeeds Georgi Parvanov who served two 5-year terms at the Presidency. The handover of power is scheduled for 22 January at a solemn military ceremony. Twenty-one artillery salutes will hail the new commander-in-chief of Bulgaria’s armed forces.
In spite of the limited powers of the Bulgarian head of state, his position is perceived as important and influential. Unlike the prime minister and the National Assembly president, this is the only high post in Bulgarian politics appointed through a direct popular election. Before running for the presidency, Rosen Plevneliev was minister of regional development and public works and had the reputation of the most successful cabinet minister in the government led by Boyko Borissov. In figures from public opinion polls, the new president enjoys support from 55 percent of Bulgarians.
Rosen Plevneliev was born on 14 May 1964 in the town of Gotze Delchev, Southwestern Bulgaria. He is a Bulgarian entrepreneur and politician close to the ruling right-of-center party GERB, though he is not party member.
During his election campaign the 47-year-old technocrat vowed he would modernize the presidential institution through a program of 10 priorities conducted in full transparency. The National Development Program Bulgaria 2020, protection of the national interests and the European future of the country have been laid out as his main goals. Other key priorities include dealing with the deficit of justice, a major administrative reform and boosting e-government. The new president is a vocal supporter of energy efficiency and of the country’s energy independence.
Listen next to an excerpt from Rosen Plevneliev’s first presidential address to parliament:
“For me a strong, prosperous and successful Bulgaria is larger than just an objective. It is a cause. A cause that we should serve as best as we can; a cause for which we should sacrifice personal interests and turn our backs on political prejudice. We are strong only when we are united. For the time being we have mostly been united under threat from crises. Time has come to unite for the sake of a national goal. Today Bulgaria needs not just a dream but a program that society and political forces accept openly. The worst deficit that a country could suffer is the deficit of a future. We cannot allow such a deficit. Governments come and go, but Bulgaria cannot afford starting from scratch every time. Looking for unity is a constitutional duty of the president. However, what Bulgaria 2020 offers is not simply consensus but accord over a long term program for the economic growth and development of the nation. In my cause Bulgaria should become a European country with the continent’s average of prosperity, with developed regions and a competitive economy; whose people live dignified lives and young generations enjoy good prospects for development. This should be the nation’s strategic goal until 2020. Therefore, despite hardships, we should no longer talk about survival but about growth.”
In terms of international affairs, the new president said he would work for Bulgaria’s European development and would steer a course to a more effective and accelerated European integration of the country. “More Europe implies a stronger and wealthier Bulgaria”, Rosen Plevneliev said:
“Bulgaria is responsible for contributing into democracy, stability, peace and prosperity in this region and the world”, he said. “It is a historic chance that over the last two decades the Balkans have transformed beyond recognition. Today our neighbors have their European prospects. We welcome anybody wishing to live in our common European home.”
Presidents Georgi Parvanov, Zhelyu Zhelev and Petar Stoyanov, PM Boyko Borissov and cabinet ministers, the Head of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church Patriarch Maxim, members of the Constitutional Court, other senior officials and foreign diplomats were in the National Assembly to attend the inauguration of Rosen Plevneliev and Margarita Popova.
Translated by Daniela Konstantinova
