Presidential candidate Iliana Yotova has called on the six countries that border the Black Sea to agree a moratorium on fighting at sea. She spoke in Burgas on Wednesday, 14 October, to a full hall at the State Opera, together with vice-presidential candidate Kiril Valchev.

Residents of the Burgas region, local and national officials, politicians and public figures came to the event.

Yotova said the war that Russia began against Ukraine in February 2022 is now reaching the Black Sea, pointing to the latest ships hit by drones. She said Bulgaria and Romania will ask for the Black Sea to be a special item on the agenda of the EU summit.

"I want to be Bulgaria's president of peace, and I will do everything I can to start peace talks in Ukraine," Yotova said. The hall responded to her words on peace with loud applause.

She believes her opponents want a war of attrition that ends in a ceasefire, but everyone is already exhausted, including all of Europe. Yotova rejected the policy of the "warmongers", saying more weapons for Ukraine lead to escalation, more victims and grave consequences for generations to come.

The presidential candidate promised she would never let Bulgaria join a Coalition of the Willing to send soldiers to Ukraine. She called peace one of the greatest achievements of the world and said the greatest duty is to leave peaceful years to our children and the generations after them.

"I do not agree with people who say we are a small country and nothing depends on us. Such defeatism is foreign to me," Yotova said. In her view, standing aside from the big questions is no way out for Bulgaria.

Yotova said she has the confidence of a politician from a country with one of the oldest state traditions in Europe. She promised to work so that Bulgaria's voice is heard more clearly in Europe and the country wins more allies. She said Bulgaria has been at the centre of Europe since it was founded, and no other country has kept its name for so long.

Yotova believes that in the coming years Bulgaria will hold the "golden card" for solving crises, because important infrastructure, energy and digital corridors will pass through it. Next year Bulgaria hosts a summit on connectivity.

Among the main problems at home she named rising prices. She reminded the audience that Rumen Radev wanted a referendum on whether Bulgaria was ready for the euro. According to Yotova, Bulgaria was not ready, because the state had not put in place controls against profiteering and price rises, and prices simply moved from leva to euro.

She said the country's problems can be solved with professional preparation, dialogue, reason and consensus. Yotova said the time of "vulgar politics", of patched-together coalitions, of deals behind people's backs and of mockery of the laws and the Constitution must end, and that she will take part in this.

She said division and hatred do not come from the people but from a political elite that can pursue its own interests only if people are divided. She said that with the vote of every Bulgarian and with age-old Bulgarian virtues the country can prosper, and she spoke of the power of history, memory and roots.

Yotova said some people are rewriting history and trying to postpone next year's marking of the 150th anniversary of the Russo-Turkish war of liberation. She added that there is no logical answer as to why, and said they will not be allowed to do it.

Kiril Valchev spoke about Bulgaria's long history and rich culture. He proposed a Bulgarian National Cultural Institute abroad, to promote Bulgarian culture and spirituality and to bring Bulgarian communities abroad together.