Deputy PM Valeri Simeonov: There is No Way I can Resign, I See no Reason to Do So'

''There is no way I can resign'', said Deputy PM in charge of economic and demographic policy and co-chair of the United Patriots coalition Valeri Simeonov during NovaTV show Hello Bulgaria, quoted by FOCUS news agency.

In regards to his resignation, requested by the opposition in the face of Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), Simeonov commented: "There is no way I can resign, as these parties have not voted for my election. I do not see a reason to do so as well. Still, I would like someone to stand in front of a camera and say exactly why they want me to resign, what violation, what crime or non-performance of my official duties have currently been found in my work. It is not clear why exactly my resignation is being requested."

Simeonov denied stating for Sega newspaper that he has made "joke photographs as a university student while on a visit to Buchenwald camp."

"Me saying that I have made joke photographs in the distant year of 1979, when we were sent to a student internship to Germany by Technical University Sofia - such a thing is simply untrue," Simeonov said.

"I will sue Sega newspaper, and not only that - I demand for the audio recording to be put out and released to society, and not just a phonogram with sentences written down. I want to hear the audio recording. If I do not hear it, the court will demand it one way or another," Simeonov added. In response to the question of whether he believed there really is such a recording, he responded: "I am sure that, by reading carefully the other sentences, ellipsis, and etc., there is an audio recording and it is a good idea, before rulings and assessments are dealt, to listen to everything that I have said. I know very well...