"The vote is not compromised in any way. I will vote by machine as I always have. It's easier, it's more convenient. I trust the machines". This was stated by Prime Minister Academician Nikolay Denkov from Brussels, reported BGNES.
"The facts are that at present the machines work as printers, i.e. everyone voting can look at what comes out as a ballot, albeit from the machine, drop it into the ballot box and then these ballots are counted," emphasized Denkov.
He added that from this point of view it is absolutely clear that no one can be deceived in this way because he sees what he will cast as a ballot and then those ballots will be counted.
"I see some conspiracy theory in this [..SANS] report as well, but can you imagine a person who would do something so conspiratorial and do it in front of other people, do it on a tape that's available," the prime minister noted.
Denkov assured that there is absolutely nothing to worry about, except that the whole situation is being used to question machine voting yet again.
"The opposition very much wants to use the situation as a new occasion to try and overthrow the government. What we also know is that GERB and Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) have been wanting to remove the machines for a long time, so maybe for them this is a convenient way to make it happen," he added.
The Prime Minister added that the decision on the vote should be made by the Central Election Commision (CEC). “The code is password protected by three members of the CEC, they are closed so without the CEC nothing can be changed on the machines. So I say there is a lot of noise but little substance in what are being presented as allegations," he explained.
Denkov commented regarding the accusations against the Deputy Minister of e-Government, Mihail Stoinov, that always in such cases it is proper to carry out an investigation and the result of it to show whether he has violated any rules. "We have to see if it's just a trap or if it's something he's allowed to happen. If he had made a mistake, of course he would be dismissed, but this should be done after proper verification," he stated.
The Prime Minister pointed out that the politicians in the National Assembly must decide whether they want to continue on the path we have been acting on so far, stressing that the results are already visible. "If they decide that they want to reformat the government, then we will go to another format and the result will be different," he added, adding that he had not heard that his colleagues from "Democratic Bulgaria" liked this scenario.
Bulgaria is inclined to agree to higher national contributions of the member states to the common coffers of the European Union due to the need for additional financing of priority projects. Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov officially expressed this position at the meeting of the European Council in Brussels.
"We prefer this option because the alternative is either no funding for the projects, some of which are very important for us, such as on the subject of migration and protection of the external borders, or to take funds from other programs such as cohesion, for the common agricultural policy or Horizon Europe, which we do not want to be affected," the Prime Minister said in Brussels.
If an increase in contributions is accepted, in practice Bulgaria will not feel it, because according to the migration and external borders policies of the EU, it will receive more than it will bring into the EU with the increased contribution.
In the debate on the revision of the EU's Multiannual Financial Framework, the Member States have united around several priorities that reflect the new political challenges. This is about providing more support to Ukraine, providing additional resources in areas such as migration and external border management, as well as disaster relief. It is being discussed how to finance these additional needs - whether with new funds that will be provided in solidarity by the member states, or by redistributing the available funds.
It will assess to what extent a reallocation of funds within the current EU budget is realistic and what the effects on other Union programs would be as an alternative to a potential proportional increase in contributions. If an agreement is reached to increase the size of the long-term EU budget for the period 2024-2027, the national contributions will be determined according to a special methodology in relation to the gross domestic product. /BGNES
