Bulgarian deputy PM threatens to resign as cabinet spat over beach bars deepens

Bulgarian deputy PM threatens to resign as cabinet spat over beach bars deepens
/ Infobgv
By bne IntelliNews June 13, 2018

Bulgaria’s Deputy Prime Minister Valeri Simeonov has made further threats to resign amid a deepening spat with his cabinet colleague, Nikolina Angelkova. 

His exit from the government could shake the already unstable coalition, as he is one of the leaders of the United Patriots, the far right junior coalition partner of Prime Minister Boyko Borissov’s GERB. 

In the latest development, Simeonov said he could resign by October, daily Dnevnik quoted him as saying on June 13.

Simeonov has accused Angelkova (of the ruling GERB party) of protecting illegal bars and restaurants built on the south beach of the popular Sunny Beach resort. The two are now at odds over an attempt by Angelkova to have tourist resorts excluded from new legislation on noise levels put forward by Simeonov. 

According to Dnevnik, Simeonov told reporters that he might resign if Angelkova continues sabotaging him.

According to Simeonov’s proposal, any noise will be forbidden in Bulgaria between 11pm and 8am in the morning, as well as between 2pm. and 4pm, including deliveries of supplies to tourist facilities. The proposal was approved by the parliament’s economy committee on June 13, but has yet to be voted on by MPs.

A day earlier, Angelkova proposed other legislation changes, taking out tourist resorts from the law on the allowed level of noise. Under the tourism ministry’s proposal noise at resorts must be defined by separate legislation and the allowed levels should be determined by local authorities. Angelkova’s proposal will be voted on by the parliament in October.

Earlier in June, Simeonov and Angelkova argued over the fate of five restaurants and bars on the south beach of the popular Sunny Beach resort. This dispute is not new as last summer, Simeonov had insisted that the constructions should be demolished, claiming they are illegal.

On the other hand, Angelkova argued that the constructions are legal.

Simeonov has threatened to quit the government if the dispute remains unsettled.

The alliance between GERB and the United Patriots raised questions from the start. Aside from speculation the United Patriots would force a shift to the far right by Bulgaria’s populist prime minister, there have also been growing concerns about the stability of the coalition between the three far-right and pro-Russian parties — Simeonov’s National Front for Salvation of Bulgaria (NFSB), the Bulgarian National Movement (VMRO) and Ataka. Simeonov has already said that most likely the coalition, which is internally unstable, will not survive until the next election.

In addition to the legislation on noise levels, Simeonov is trying to put pressure on Gerb to pass his legislation related to advertisement of gambling and a partial return of smoking in restaurants. So far, Gerb has said that it will back partially the gambling law, but will not reverse the smoking ban.

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