Sergei Stanishev, president of the Party of European Socialists, speaks during an interview after casting ballot at a polling station in Sofia, Bulgaria, May 26, 2019. Sergei Stanishev said here on Sunday after voting in the European Parliament elections that the social policy should become the core of the European Union (EU) policy. (Xinhua/Wang Xinran)
SOFIA, May 26 (Xinhua) -- Sergei Stanishev, president of the Party of European Socialists, said here on Sunday after voting in the European Parliament elections that the social policy should become the core of the European Union (EU) policy.
These elections would be of the utmost importance to the EU because the dominance of the center-right European People's Party in the European institutions over the past 20 years has imposed a policy of social restrictions, Stanishev said.
"This policy needs to be changed," he added.
"Social policy must become the core of the EU policy. There is a great need for this, I am convinced," Stanishev noted.
In his views, Europe should be united. When a member state experienced economic, political or external difficulties, it has to get help from the rest of the EU. And Europe should not be a Europe of different speeds.
"And above all, Europe must be social," he said, adding that the transformation of Europe into a social one would be of great benefit to every Bulgarian because more than 40 percent of people in Bulgaria live in poverty or in severe material deprivation.
The European Parliament elections, which are held every five years, kicked off on Thursday. The results will be out late Sunday evening.
