What achievements are you most proud of? It’s rather difficult to single out one achievement. There are several, but what I consider important is that we have managed to impose a new style of non-confrontation, of more measured attitudes, also in parliament, and that dialogue and consensus are emphasized. Thanks to this and to our consistent efforts, Bulgaria will join Nato in the near future and will become a full-fledged member of the EU in 2007.
What regrets, if any, do you have? Let me say first that I am so happy to have returned to my country, because I was able to invest my personal connections, knowledge and experience for its modernization. Otherwise, what I could have done differently is to select people more carefully, but then again we beat all records by launching a movement finding hundreds of candidates for Parliament and winning by a landslide. All this within a period of three months!
Why does your government remain unpopular given the economic success of the last two years? We do not work for the sake of good ratings or publicity. We work to achieve the long-term goals we have set ourselves. On taking office, we found a number of problems, which had remained unsolved, probably because of the quest for ratings. We had the political will to address them and people are aware of this. The rest is simply part of the political game. I often ask myself why on earth do colleagues of yours, and in this case you too, expect people to love their government? I have had a long life, thank God, and a wide experience and I’ve seldom come across people enthusiastic about their own government. Whether we are unpopular or not, personally not being a politician, does not really bother me. It’s the success in economic policies you yourself underline which matters. The upgrading in international financial ratings and many other symptoms and facts are obviously, at the end of the day, far more important than being popular.
Specifically, what policies will you pursue to reduce unemployment? Our government’s priority is to create jobs. We inherited a high level of unemployment and halfway through our mandate we managed to reduce it by 5%. Instead of increasing social benefits, we decided to generate jobs. This modern type of philosophy was approved by the EU. Now more than 200,000 people are back to work after being jobless for years. The Union of Employers is our partner in this process. We do not pretend to reinvent something that has already been invented. We are simply doing our job. I don’t think I have a formula that is specific to me. Any economist, anybody versed in government issues, knows what to do.
How important is it for the government to make a strong showing in this October’s local elections? Local elections, as the name itself implies, are a matter of local government – that is, not the central government. It’s the municipalities, the mayors, the city hall councillors. So I am afraid your question is a bit contradictory. A strong showing would obviously be welcome but the two things, in my book at least, don’t go hand in hand. One is the central government functioning, and another is the local administration’s success, the mayor who is elected and who the people in a town or village respect. Our government was the first to start and maintain a dialogue with the National Association of Municipalities. Our common goal is financial decentralization. We consider very important for the future that mayors are good managers because together we will be utilizing EU funds. The new mayors will be the flagmen of EU integration on a regional level.
Will you maintain the momentum of reform? I work with a vision of years ahead because you cannot improvise or stick to agendas from one election to the other, which in my book is a serious mistake, committed quite often. We maintain a momentum because we want to reform and change this country, not because of one, another or a third election period.
How will the results of the reform reflect on the integrity of the coalition? The mechanism of partnership in our coalition is functioning properly. Come to think of it, it’s both in our coalition partners’ and our own interest to work together, to achieve our goals and this is the way to secure our term in office till 2005, when the next parliamentary elections are due.
How worried are you about the continued conflict between the government and the courts on such issues as privatization? I think many more people, besides me, should be worried, first of all those who provoke these situations. Our government is encouraged by the EU and advised to complete the judiciary reform. Let me tell you that I happen to be stubborn when it comes to responsibility and we shall carry out this reform, come what may, for the good of our society.
Will the government will see through the sale of the telecommunications, tobacco and energy sectors by the end of your mandate? In the process of privatization, we consider it very important to defend our national interest and ensure transparency in the procedures. For some reason you seem to be in a pessimistic mood, which part of our media shares. Quite honestly, we are halfway through our mandate and we have achieved privatizations, not always the biggest, but what does matter is that we have succeeded. You will see that much and I underline much, before the end of our mandate, two other major privatizations will be successfully completed.
What difference will membership of Nato and the EU make to the politics and economy of Bulgaria? Public support for Nato membership is steadily growing because for us Bulgarians it means economic and social stability. The same can be said about EU accession. I have repeated this time and again. Belonging to Nato is no longer to be part of a defensive or an offensive pact. It means to be within a security perimeter, where organized crime and other mafia-like doings have no place. On the other hand, we all know that the political importance of EU membership is enormous. Just ask any of the present member-states, any one of the 10 recent members, and they will confirm that this is a very important goal. Bulgaria, with relentless efforts, and God’s help, will achieve this by 2007.
How quickly do you expect the level of investment to rise and what conditions are needed for this? Let me begin with the news that the government successfully completed the privatization of the banking sector with the sale of the State Savings Bank to Hungary’s OTP. Both the west and the east are interested in our economy and markets. We have accomplished a number of projects and already have performing investments. And what I always emphasize is that investors should find rule of law, steady procedures and clear regulations. However, Bulgaria is a small country and we all know that investments depend on developments in the world economy. If you could kindly tell me when the global recession, or when the period of bankruptcies of enormous corporations such as Enron, for instance, are over, I could answer your question.
What would be the implications for foreign investors of a change in government? Governmental stability is important both for foreign investors and for the country itself, as it is all over the world. Stability is the first thing investors look for, and this is why we have the firm intention and commitment to complete our four-year mandate.
What are the key steps that you are most determined to take between now and the next elections? I would again like to stress that we are not governing in terms of elections. We are in office to modernize our society, to send a firm message, a determined one, to all Bulgarians that all of us together, in a joint effort, can turn Bulgaria into a place where we want to live and raise our children. In other words to be proud to be Bulgarians.
What are your own personal ambitions for the future? My personal ambitions? I rarely put anything personal above and beyond the country’s interests and I think I have proven this over the past 50 years, the sole fact of being the prime minister speaks for itself.
But let me say again that all of us Bulgarians would like to live in a 21st century European democracy, and to turn our country into a flourishing place, just like the prosperous European countries.
