site.btaParliament Calls for Equal Treatment of Bulgaria’s Black Sea Regions in EU Cohesion Policy

On Thursday, Parliament adopted a declaration on Bulgaria’s position regarding the European Commission’s proposed mid-term review of cohesion policy. The declaration urges that Bulgaria’s regions bordering the Black Sea be treated on an equal footing with other regions in EU Member States bordering Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. 

The National Assembly urged the Council of Ministers to uphold this position during the mid-term review of cohesion policy and in the negotiations on the next EU multiannual financial framework for 2028–2034. Parliament also called on the European Parliament and the Council of the EU to reflect it in forthcoming legislative and programme documents.

The declaration, supported by 123 MPs with 16 voting against, emphasizes that the Black Sea region, part of which lies within Bulgaria, faces growing security risks as well as economic and environmental consequences from the ongoing war in Ukraine, directly affecting the country’s eastern regions. It was proposed by Dimitar Gardev of the There Is Such a People party together with other MPs from the ruling coalition, and was approved on July 31 by the Parliamentary Committee on European Affairs and Oversight of European Funds.