Honourable Members, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

It is an enormous pleasure for me to come back to the great and ancient city of Plovdiv – so long renowned as a fortress of democracy and the political right – what a pity that power has now been handed to the Left.

 

I have just come from Warsaw and Prague where I have been with: my party leader, David Cameron; with the former Polish Prime Minister, Jaroslav Kaczynski; and with the former Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Mirek Topolanek.

 

We have been discussing the new right and centre-right Group in the European Parliament – the European Conservatives and Reformists. We welcome the commitment of of Order, Law and Justice to join our great new project for reform – reform in Bulgaria and reform across Europe.

 

In all our countries we hear our citizens crying out for change – they want more control over their own lives and over the politicians making decisions on their behalf. Too often people say the politicians are just self-interested, that they don’t listen to the concerns of the people, that when they are in government they forget their promises and don’t do what the people that elected them want.

 

This has to change. That is why I am supporting Order, Law and Justice because, for the first time, we have a political party in Bulgaria that is committed to the people, to reform and, in particular, to fighting corruption.

 

It is not true to say that it doesn’t matter how you vote, that politicians are all the same - now there is a real opportunity to make a difference – in one week you will have the chance to vote and to vote for a party of integrity, dedicated to overcoming the corruption that impacts on every aspect of people’s lives.

 

Bulgaria has benefited from her membership of the European Union. It would benefit even more if all the funds - millions of euros – went in the right direction.

Throughout my time as rapporteur for Bulgaria, I drew attention to problems of corruption, of organised crime, and of the failings in the judicial and police systems. When Bulgaria acceded on 1 January 2007, it was our confident expectation that the necessary steps would be taken to deal with these persistent problems. I have to say that I have been extremely disappointed.

 

On a visit to Bulgaria some months ago, I said that I sometimes felt that I was stepping into a pool of alligators!

 

It’s time the water was changed and the pool was cleaned out. I am confident that, with “Order, Law and Justice” under the excellent leadership of Yane Yanev, and such men as Dimitar Abadjiev, Atanas Semov, Ivan Vasilev and Jhivko Temelkov,– men of great integrity that I have known for many years – we shall see that change.

 

I congratulate Yane for the huge efforts he has made in the flight against corruption at every level. He has become famous for his dedication to uncovering hidden corruption and demanding reform. He wants a fundamental restructuring of the judicial system so that it is both effective and just – so that it delivers concrete results.

 

I am confident that success in the European elections – and I expect Order, Law and Justice to win 2 or 3 seats – will lead to further success in the national elections and a key role in a new centre-right Bulgarian government. They need your backing now.

 

Let me turn to another issue – energy.

 

Last winter an energy crisis crippled Plovdiv and other towns and cities across Bulgaria.  Bulgarian citizens felt the chill from gas shortages when Gazprom turned off the supplies.

 

I have long warned of the dangers of excessive dependency on energy supplies from Russia and campaigned strongly against the premature closure of units 3 and 4 of the Kozloduy Nuclear Power plant. That closure made no sense from any point of view. And it was an insult to the Bulgarian people

 

Bulgaria, like other countries in Europe, should not become over-dependent on Russia for energy supply.

 

We need diverse sources of energy supply, greater national autonomy and improved connectivity between countries across the European Union.

 

We have got to invest in safe, reliable, clean and affordable energy solutions for the future, and we have to do it now. That means more nuclear and more renewables.It is just such issues that we have, this afternoon, been discussing with the Bulgarian Academy of Science.

 

Making full use of the European Union’s own instruments, the fight to overturn the injustice of Kozloduy will go on.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We need your support to help create our new force in the European Parliament. Reinforced by Order, Law and Justice, our new Group of European Conservatives and Reformists will aim to shift the European Union in a different direction – away from its inward-looking obsession with political integration and its own institutions - concentrating instead on what is important to the people of our countries – economic growth, jobs, and fighting against corruption, fraud and waste of public funds.

 

Our aim is to bring a new sort of politics to the European Union that is closer to the concerns and interests of our citizens and outward looking to the world.

 

We will also focus on energy security, on efficient and modern public services, on sensitivity to the needs of both urban and rural communities, and respect and equitable treatment for all European Union countries, new and old, large and small. 

 

Our agenda is change.

 

The party to bring about that change in Bulgaria is “Order, Lawfulness and Justice”.

 

I hope that, on 7 June, the people of Bulgaria will go out and Vote “Number 1”.