21 Oct 2010 / 10:16
Bulgaria's nationalist Ataka party has accused the country's political parties of intentionally delaying a referendum on Turkey's EU bid, and threatened to withdraw its unconditional support for the government.
Boryana Dzhambazova
“We will continue to urge for an immediate referendum,” said Desislav Chukolov, deputy chairman of the parliamentary group of the Ataka party. He told Balkan Insight that other political parties were using the procedural problems as an excuse to delay the scheduling of a referendum.
Boryana Dzhambazova
“We will continue to urge for an immediate referendum,” said Desislav Chukolov, deputy chairman of the parliamentary group of the Ataka party. He told Balkan Insight that other political parties were using the procedural problems as an excuse to delay the scheduling of a referendum.
“Ataka has been seeking a referendum since 2005. The people’s voice must be heard,” he added.
Late on Wednesday Ataka leader Volen Siderov told a rally against Turkey's EU bid that his party, which has previously strongly backed the government, would no longer offer its unconditional support to the ruling centre-right party of Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria, GERB.
"We won't support GERB unconditionally any more, and we will discuss every political move very carefully," Siderov told supporters.
"We won't support GERB unconditionally any more, and we will discuss every political move very carefully," Siderov told supporters.
Members of the parliament on Wednesday discussed but did not vote on whether or not a referendum should be scheduled, explaining that procedural obstacles prevented a vote.
Instead, the parliament decided that the state administration should check the validity of the 320,000 signatures that VMRO, another far-right party, has gathered in support of a referendum. While the MPs discussed the matter, supporters of VMRO staged a rally in favour of the people's vote outside the building of the National Assembly.
This latest push for a referendum comes two weeks after a meeting between Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and his Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Borisov. The Bulgarian leader backed Ankara’s “EU perspective”, saying that the government didn't currently intend to hold a referendum on the issue.
His comments outraged Ataka and inspired party leader Volen Siderov to hold a heated speech against Turkey’s entry in the parliament. Members of the party also appeared wearing T-shirts with the message: “Ataka says No to Turkey in the EU”.
Ataka and VMRO, well-known for their anti-Turkish rhetoric, have repeatedly urged for a direct vote to determine Bulgaria’s position on Ankara’s EU integration.
Vladimir Shopov, political scientist and founder of the Institute Sophia Analytica, told Balkan Insight that nationalists are trying to boost their ratings by putting the issue on the country’s political agenda.
“Ataka is trying to gain back voters’ support which has dropped because of the party’s unconditional support for the government during the last year,” he said.
Shopov thinks that it it too early to hold a referendum, as Turkey’s eventual EU accession is still a far away prospect. Although he admits that nationalist pressure is not the best publicity, he is convinced that a public debate on the issue is much needed.
“At the moment Bulgaria doesn’t have a clear stance on the topic. Listening to different members of the cabinet, you get different ideas about the country’s position,” Shopov noted.
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