Eurasia Press & News
Bulgarian migrants living abroad have set up their own political party called “The Other Bulgaria” vowing to tackle corruption and ‘restore the country’s credibility’ in the European Union.
Named after a popular television show that tracks the lives of Bulgarian migrants in different parts of the world, the party sets out to pool the potential of Bulgarians abroad and Bulgarian interest lobby groups around the world.
More than six hundred delegates attended a meeting laying the foundations of the party in Sofia on Sunday.
Bulgaria, an EU newcomer, which has had millions of euros in EU funding frozen and unprecedented sanctions imposed from Brussels because of corruption fears, is to hold a general election in the summer.
Bozhidar Tomalevski, chair of the initiative committee, said the idea was brought into being eight years ago.
“Our meetings with Bulgarian migrants in Belgium, Spain and Greece gave us the confidence that this party is needed. We are here to promote a new model, because we want Bulgaria to be different, we want it to be what we want it to be,” said Tomalevski, who was part of the election campaign of former king Simeon Saxe-Coburg in 2001. He swept the vote in that general election.
The party called for the introduction of the e-vote which, they believe, will guarantee equal voting rights for all Bulgarian citizens, living in the country and abroad; upgrade the work of the trade attaches in Bulgaria’s diplomatic missions, crackdown on corruption and organised crime as well as reform the judiciary and the security service.
