Billions of the the so-called surplus are spent every year without any rules. However, the crisis has shown that the treasury is empty. President Rumen Radev commented on the forthcoming budget update in Blagoevgrad.
According to him, the loan of up to BGN 10 billion(which the government wants to take up) "should this time be spent under strict public control, so that it does not sink as it has happened before. "
The head of State stressed that there was no confrontation on his part and there was no cessation of dialogue with the executive power. “The veto (on the Emergency Measures Act –ed.n.), which I imposed, corrected dangerous provisions in the Act, which even GERB recognized and accepted. It is time the Prime Minister humbled himself and accepted the truth, as his own MPs did. Now it is not the time for angry postures and emotional unrest ", the president said.
The restrictive measures imposed must be complied with responsibly, and I want to thank all Bulgarians for their conscious attitude, the president said. "But long-term remaining of these huge restrictions results in damage that can be well above the coronavirus setback, including higher mortality," he warned.
According to the President, we need to set a clear national goal – to get back to a relatively normal rhythm of life as quickly as possible, but manageably and safely. "To restore the freedom of movement of people and goods. This requires a vigorous and decisive extension of the coronavirus strategy and adequate resources. This requires comprehensive, timely, reliable information to be able to build a picture of what is actually happening in the country and to identify effective, targeted strategies. There is no such information at the moment, "Radev stressed. According to the Head of State, this requires comprehensive population testing, targeting different social and risk groups.
"I am a supporter of having information about what the situation is and what we are doing. Believe me, this is a very complex process that can hardly be managed on the basis of only 4000 tested, which is a negligible statistical share against 7 million Bulgarians. We cannot win this war only with restrictions, fines, instilling fear and a sense of guilt in the population. Therefore, we must move faster out of the realm of guesswork, mass restrictions, and social paralysis and adopt this strategy – to expand the tests, to target these groups in all regions, to have a clear picture and to be able to apply targeted actions“ " President Radev added. He specified that only in this way would we be able to get out of this state blockade.
"Imagine if it lasted a long time – will we live that way? We need to think about getting out of the blockade and be able to overcome the economic and social catastrophe we are accelerating on our own, "Radev comments.
The President was also asked whether he was tested every day for Covid-19
“I was tested once, the result was negative. I can't afford the luxury to be tested every day, given that there are no tests for the people. Everyone decides when and how they can be tested, but many Bulgarians who want to have a check cannot do it, and I am in solidarity with them. Not everyone can spend money on testing in private labs, not everyone has access – people have to travel to reach them under these severe constraints, "the president said.
He informed that at the meeting of the Municipal Crisis Staff in Blagoevgrad different aspects of the crisis actions were discussed. "It is justifiable to worry about the task – all medical establishments to prepare separate wards for the fight against coronavirus. In this situation, there is a risk that hospitals will be completely blocked and treatment of acute chronic, oncological, cardiac and emergency cases will become impossible. And people stay home and wait. This, in the opinion of many specialists, risks raising the mortality rate far beyond that of the coronavirus, "Radev noted.
One of the suggestions that has emerged during the discussion is to set up a unit to be strengthened with anesthesiologists, doctors, nurses from other hospitals, so that there is a clear division of patient flows and that all coronavirus infected people are identified there. "To allow other hospitals with severe cases to continue serving patients. This is vital so that we do not block the healthcare system … This will be addressed to the Minister of Health in connection with this order, "stressed the Head of State.
He also took the opportunity to thank the frontline people – doctors, police officers, volunteers, workers in transport, commerce, social systems, teachers and all those who fulfill their obligations under these difficult conditions.
