“The decisions being taken are in the direction of the caretaker government’s principal task – fair, transparent and free elections,” President Rumen Radev stated in Plovdiv, commenting on the Security Council meeting convened by caretaker PM Stefan Yanev.

In Rumen Radev’s words, the US sanctions under the Magnitsky sanctions programme targeted at Bulgarian citizens are a precedent for the EU. “There are no clear regulatory provisions for a country which is an ally, a country member of the EU and of NATO targeted by such severe sanctions, on how exactly to deal with this,” the President said. He pointed out that “the government is obligated to take measures to minimize the risk to the state institutions and to Bulgarian citizens financially.”

Reporting by Antonia Popova, Radio Plovdiv-BNR.