site.btaTaking a Stand for Ukraine, Condemning Russia's Invasion

At the United Nations (UN) General Assembly last week, world leaders painted a grim picture of the future and warned that the international community will face dire consequences if the Russian aggression against Ukraine doesn't cease immediately.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine dominated the world's largest annual diplomatic gathering for the second year in a row. Its impact on European security, inflation, and global energy and food security was the subject of heated general debate among the more than 140 world leaders who gathered in New York to share their views on the state of the world.

President Radev on War in Ukraine

“The resurrected ghost of self-destruction, as a result of the full-scale war in Europe, is a nightmare that my generation wrongly believed to be a bygone phase in human history”, Bulgaria’s President Rumen Radev told the audience at the green-marble hall last Wednesday. “It has been 19 months since a permanent member of the Security Council unleashed a war of aggression against its neighboring country, violating the principles of the UN Charter and international law”, Radev said, condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Radev’s remarks echoed the concerns expressed by UN general secretary Antonio Guterres that “our world is becoming unhinged” as geopolitical tensions are rising and as global challenges are mounting. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s President Volodimir Zelensky warned the UN General Assembly that Russia is pushing the world to the “final war”.

The Bulgarian head of State said that the hopes for rearranging the broken societal and economic links following the subside of the COVID-19 pandemic brought some optimism, but then the war in Ukraine exacerbated various crises, such as the high level of socioeconomic distress, growing food insecurity, supply chain disruptions and the rising inflation. The war destroyed not only thousands of human lives, but also the optimism about recovery, Radev said.

According to the Bulgarian President, these negative developments will distract “our attention from the challenges that may turn to be equally deadly for humanity” such as climate change, pollution and the inability to reach the 2030 sustainable development goals.

FM Gabriel on grain Imports from Ukraine

There weren’t any breakthroughs on renewing the Black Sea deal, brokered between Russia and Ukraine by the United Nations and Turkiye. The grain deal aimed to prevent a global food crisis by allowing Ukrainian grain to be safely exported from several Black Sea ports. Russia quit the grain deal in July, claiming that the West didn’t honour the second part of the deal that allowed for greater Russian agricultural exports. 

Bulgaria’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mariya Gabriel met with Zelensky last Wednesday on the sidelines of the UN forum. Ukraine appreciates Bulgaria's decision not to extend the ban on imports of Ukrainian agricultural products it had imposed earlier this year, said Gabriel at a press briefing after the meeting that also included Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

“When you express solidarity in such a difficult moment, when you have the power to make such decisions, it is appreciated”, said Gabriel.

Bulgarian farmers staged protests across the country last week after the government ended the ban on Ukrainian agricultural products, saying the move would lead to a flood of Ukrainian goods, driving down prices for local producers.

Mariya Gabriel, however, does not believe that supporting Ukraine would have any negative consequences for Bulgaria.