Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) should decide if it would defend its beliefs or would act as a ‘holding’ of various groups, party leader and Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev said during the June 3 BSP summit.

Party supporters sent a warning during the members of European Parliament (MEP) elections, Stanishev said. The good news was that BSP supporters who refrained from voting for the party did not cast a ballot for another political formation.

BSP should discuss with its coalition partners the changing attitudes in the country and the readiness of people to accept nationalism, Stanishev said.

A day before the summit, the entire BSP management decided to resign. Stanishev said that party management failed motivating voters and the dissatisfactory results were caused by divisions within the party itself.

Stanishev also commented on the recent corruption controversy and the resulting decision of Economy and Energy Minister Roumen Ovcharov to resign.

Even if Ovcharov decided to refrain from quitting office, he would not have been able to work properly, Stanishev said. Ovcharov’s decision was the right move.

Ovcharov said that his resignation was sufficient and no other people had to be victimised. Ovcharov said that he decided to resign before the party summit so that the decision did not feature among the major topics of discussion.

Interior Minister and BSP council member Roumen Petkov said that the party was not under division threat. Responsibility and belief in common goals have been internalised and guiding party members, he said.