BSP/S&D MEP Elena Yoncheva believes that the DPS has the will to change, and for that she accepted the party’s nomination of honorary leader Ahmed Dogan.
She added that she would not accept a nomination from Boyko Borisov’s party – GERB. Her motive is that during his administration she did a number of journalistic investigations into corruption at the highest levels of power, which did not lead to results. Thus, she realized that the only way to have an effect is to make laws in the EP to be applied in Bulgaria in order to have an effect.
This is what Elena Yoncheva commented to journalists in Strasbourg, where the last plenary session of this European Parliament is taking place before the elections on June 6-9.
When asked by Mediapool how she will continue her work on the anti-corruption law in the EP, of which she is proud, after the co-chairman of the DPS Delyan Peevski was sanctioned under the global corruption law “Magnitsky”, she replied that this law has no legal force in the European Union and Bulgaria.
“There is another such European sanction list, in which there are 67 natural persons, but there are no Bulgarians in it”noted Yoncheva.
She recalled that there is also a politician in the BSP who is among those sanctioned under the global “Magnitsky” law of the USA, referring to the former MP and Economy Minister Rumen Ovcharov, but this did not prevent her from being a rapporteur on the anti-corruption law, nor from working on the media act.
“I have made no compromises either in journalism or politicsElena Yoncheva said.
He added that if he has the freedom to defend the important topics for Bulgaria, he accepts the nomination of the DPS.
Elena Yoncheva did not specifically answer the questions related to Delyan Peevski’s invitation to the meeting in the Bulgarian Parliament. Instead, he was responsible for her work in the European Parliament.
“In recent years, I fought very actively against the entire model in Bulgaria, which did not provide media freedom, the rule of law, I fought a very tough battle with GERB, and the changes I initiated here (in the European Parliament – ed.) are the result of this battle“said Elena Yoncheva.
Obviously, in order to bring about any changes in Bulgaria, we need laws that cannot be made by Bulgaria, but must come from Europe, Yoncheva added. She sees a will for such changes in the work of MEPs from the DPS.
“I work with their MEPs and I see that on topics we have always worked on, we think in the same direction and they are part of a very large and authoritative European family with whom we have always worked here”, said Elena Yoncheva. She singled out her work with ALDE co-chair Ilhan Kyuchuk on the fall of Schengen and migration.
Elena Yoncheva did not specifically answer questions related to Russia and Russian intervention in Bulgaria. She only noted that she supported the first EP resolution on Russian aggression in Ukraine, but did not comment on those against which she voted against.
Elena Yoncheva was the leader of the BSP list in the previous elections for the European Parliament, defeating the then chairman of the Party of European Socialists and former prime minister Sergey Stanishev. A year after becoming an MEP, she clashed with BSP leader Kornelia Ninova, and it was clear that she would not be on the BSP list for the upcoming vote, which will most likely be led by the deputy speaker of the parliament Kristijan Vigenin.
Two days ago, however, DPS-Blagoevgrad surprisingly nominated Yoncheva as a candidate from Peevski’s party for the Euro vote. This happened after a personal meeting between Yoncheva and the co-chairman of the DPS in the Bulgarian parliament. According to Yoncheva, she accepted exactly after three days of reflection.
