Higher aims than popularity

Euromoney Limited, Registered in England & Wales, Company number 15236090

4 Bouverie Street, London, EC4Y 8AX

Copyright © Euromoney Limited 2024

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Higher aims than popularity

Euromoney talks to Simeon Saxe-Coburg Gotha, Bulgaria's prime minimster and former king.

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.

Gift this article