Rumyana Zheleva with her incompetence embodies the government of Boyko Borisov
euinside, January 14, 2010
The leader of the parliamentary group of the Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament Martin Schulz has required the president of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso to withdraw the nomination of Rumyana Zheleva as a Commissioner-designate because, aside from serious allegations of financial impropriety, she is not good enough for the job. Mr. Schulz got angry at the comments of the Bulgarian prime minister Boyko Borisov who said the the Bulgarian Socialist Party had participated in trouble-making in Brussels against Zheleva. "The former bodyguard of the former communist dictator of Bulgaria has no right to attack us in such a way", the leader of the socialists said.
Rumyana Zheleva was an element of Borisov's strategy to put his style of attacking everybody who disagrees with him as a communist or whatever, he continued adding: "I ask Mr Barroso to reject clearly such a style. Ms Zheleva and her incompetence are what represent the Borisov government."
He recommended if she would remain a Commissioner designate to face another hearing in Parliament. However he said he doubted that she would do any better: "But I fear that a second hearing will be worse than the first. Her performance showed beyond doubt that she is incompetent".
The Bulgarian MEP from the group of the Socialists and Democrats and a former foreign minister of Bulgaria Ivaylo Kalfin suggested that with similar reactions Boyko Borisov was making even bigger mistake than the one with the nomination of Rumyana Zheleva for Commissioner.
The liberal party of the former Bulgarian tsar Simeon Saxecobourggotta NDSV expressed regret that a shadow was cast over the capital, piled for the past 4 years by the first Bulgarian Commissioner Meglena Kuneva who is a member of the party. "This is national capital and not political or personal one", a press-release of the party says. The yellow party also expressed regret for the performance of the Bulgarian candidate at the hearing. They also said they were compassionate for Ms. Zheleva because of the situation she was in. In the meantime the NDSV underlined that they had not participated in any wrong doing, directed to discrediting the Bulgarian candidate. The party had no pretenses toward their member Antonia Parvanova who is an MEP, because she did nothing wrong.