site.btaFormer President Radev: Europe Has Become Hostage to Its Ambition for Moral Leadership in World Without Rules
Former president Rumen Radev (2017–2026) said that Europe has become a hostage to its ambition for moral leadership in a world without rules, where interests are no longer hidden behind values and systems and regulations collapse before new ones are established. Radev was speaking Tuesday during the official closing dinner of the Sofia Economic Forum.
According to Radev, the global agenda is increasingly determined by the United States, China, and Russia, and it is evident that further conflicts and confrontations, military, economic, or technological, will continue to arise within spheres of influence. In this world, cheap energy for Europe is no longer accessible, cheap labour is not guaranteed, and cheap capital is gone, he added.
Radev stressed that the key question is whether Europe and its leaders will be able to adapt quickly to this new geopolitical reality. European leaders are beginning to realize that the strategy of achieving peace through strength vis-a-vis Russia is increasingly detached from reality and risks further destroying Ukraine, economically, energetically, and demographically, while creating even greater problems for Europe.
The former president noted that the economy has become one of the first victims of geopolitics and ideology, as the main criteria for choosing and supplying energy resources and raw materials are no longer economic benefits but ideological correctness. Market and investment policies are now guided less by the principle of maximum profit, which is their core principle, and more by compliance with ever-expanding sanctions.
Radev said that Bulgaria’s efforts should focus on two main directions: overcoming the negative effects and consequences of the rushed entry into the eurozone and exploiting the opportunities it brings. "The eurozone cannot be a strategic goal in itself; it is a tool to achieve the broader aim of raising the standard and quality of life of Bulgarians as quickly as possible to the level of the European average," Radev emphasized.
He added that serious work still lies ahead in integrating Bulgaria into the European Union and the eurozone. According to him, this includes removing oligarchic influence from power and stopping the flow of public resources that continue to benefit it, establishing the rule of law, ensuring real separation of powers and a functioning judiciary, restoring transparency, accountability, and responsibility in government, and implementing democratic market mechanisms distorted by oligarchic control.
/DS/
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