site.btaPresident Radev Confers with EU Member States Ambassadors

President Rumen Radev, who held a meeting here on Tuesday with the heads of the diplomatic missions of the EU Member States accredited in Bulgaria, said that the European Union's diplomacy must be much more active in the neighbouring hot spots and help to resolve the conflicts there, the President's press service reported. During the meeting, the diplomats raised questions related to Bulgaria's agenda within the framework of the priorities of the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council, as well as the consequences of Russia's military actions against Ukraine and the State of Israel's actions against Hamas.

Radev described the military actions near Europe as a key challenge to the EU's security and stability, including through the secondary impact they have on the economy and the public. The development of a stable and prosperous European Union is very difficult to achieve against the backdrop of wars in close proximity to our borders, which is why European diplomacy should play a much more leading role in the search for pragmatic solutions to stop the fighting and restore peace, Radev said. The EU taking such an active stance is also in line with the ambition for strategic autonomy and a more significant role for the Union in international relations.

In response to a question about increasing interoperability between the armed forces of the European Member States and their modernization, Radev said that "this is not achieved in the midst of a crisis but starts as early as the development and deployment of defence products". The President spoke about Bulgaria's active contribution to uniting the efforts of individual countries in research and production of defence technologies within the EU and NATO. Industrial cooperation and technology transfer should become an indispensable part of any purchase of defence equipment by EU Member States, Radev said.

The farmers' protests across Europe are a sign of a real problem and require specific actions by the European institutions, the President said. He added that building a green economy must take into account the social and economic aspects of this process and not lead to a permanent loss of competitiveness of European economies. The EU is clearly a leader in the green transition globally, but the significantly lower cost of energy resources in other countries gives them a competitive advantage, leading to negative economic and social consequences for Europe, Radev said.

Ensuring the rule of law and the separation of powers is the responsibility of all institutions, as those two are the foundation of democracy, the head of State said. He said that restoring the powers of the Prosecutor General and the plenum of the Supreme Judicial Council, previously dropped from the Constitution by Parliament, raises questions about the course of the justice reform and the supremacy of the Constitution. Bulgarians are waiting for the relevant institutions to release concrete details about the existence of brokers between high-ranking politicians and magistrates. The public hopes to have a light shone on the processes within the justice system, without which it is impossible to uphold the rule of law, the President also said.