Crisis remains the key challenge for the European Union, said for Radio Bulgaria MEP from the European People’s Party Agustin Diaz de Mera who is a member of the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs. Mr Agustin de Mera attended the Third National Conference of GERB party where Boyko Borissov was re-elected as GERB leader.

A hundred days before the elections for European Parliament the two major parties in Europe- the European People’s Party and the Party of the European Socialists started to prepare for the battle for the new EU Parliament and a new President of the European Commission through their political wings GERB and the Bulgarian Socialist Party in Bulgaria. The voters in Bulgaria will elect directly the governing bodies of the EU for the first time in May this year. First the Bulgarian Socialist Party and its leader Sergey Stanishev who is also president of the Party of European Socialists (PES) stepped on the stage of the pre-election campaign. A week later the President of the European People’s Party Josef Dol backed GERB party with a single message: “More Europe against the crisis”. In Josef Dol’s words, “Europe is the solution to the crisis, rather than the problem that causes it”. “We need more Europe in order to achieve a better economic development, to control the banks better, to guarantee the savings of the European citizens, to achieve harmony in the tax and the social security sector and avoid social dumping. We need more Europe to establish a European community of scientific research and innovations, to broaden the scope of the economic growth and develop the power engineering and guarantee our energy independence.”

What are the main problems ahead of the EU and Bulgaria at present?

“The economic crisis is the biggest challenge Europe is facing at present. It remains the main problem that needs to be resolved. This problem is the most significant one for Bulgaria as well. However, the cabinet of Boyko Borissov (July 2009-February 2013) did a good job to protect Bulgaria from the heaviest shocks caused by the economic crisis. To solve this exceptionally difficult problem, however, we need sacrifice rather than good government policies only. Citizens must make sacrifice, because the future of our generation and our children will depend mainly on the sacrifice the EU citizens are now making. In my opinion, the party which can manage the future of the Bulgarians best is GERB”, contends Agustin Diaz de Mera.

According to a recent research, corruption is a massive problem for the whole EU. Do we need a mechanism for verification and cooperation for all EU member states?

“There is no doubt about this issue in the European Union”, claims Mr de Mera. "Last week we had a meeting on corruption in the European Union. I must say that corruption is an awful phenomenon and we must fight against it on all levels in Europe- institutional, political and social."

The latter was confirmed by President of the EPP Josef Dol in a reply whether he was worried about Bulgaria, as the political turbulence and the protests against the current government (backed by the Bulgarian Socialist Party and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms) have been lasting for over 200 days now.

“When I see a blurred policy and the way the judicial systems are functioning, especially the ones in Bulgaria and Romania, I think Europe should interfere. The constitutional state must survive in all EU member states”, said Mr Josef Dol.

The tickets of the Bulgarian parties for the forthcoming European elections will be ready by the beginning of March.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov