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The Head of State: The countries from the Black Sea region should strive to achieve connectedness and reach long-term decisions for future cooperation

Under the conditions of crisis the countries from the Black Sea region should seek common ideas for development whereby they would compensate their limited national resources. The real success of the regional cooperation will depend on the ability to formulate a long-term strategy for the future of the Black Sea region. This is what President Rosen Plevneliev said in his speech delivered at the opening ceremony of the 41st meeting of the general assembly of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation. The Head of State emphasized that the geographic proximity and the shared historical and cultural legacy of the countries from the region create the necessary prerequisites for strengthening the partnership within the organization.

Bulgaria will activate its efforts to develop a unified EU strategy for the Black Sea region as part of the efforts put into forming a common vision for the parameters and spheres of cooperation during the next decade, President Plevneliev pointed out. When Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU in 2007, the Black Sea became an EU external border which enhanced the significance and role of the region in formulating European policies. Therefore a new stimulus should be given to the European initiative “Black Sea Synergy.”  Seeking a coordinated approach to solving the problems related to environment, energy and transport should result in drawing up a more large-scale strategy for the development of the Black Sea region,” the Bulgarian Head of State said.

Rosen Plevneliev called on the Black Sea Economic Cooperation member states to put words into deeds. According to the Head of State everything will remain only good intentions if the countries from the region fail to secure connections with each other by creating direct air and dock links, energy and transport infrastructure whereby they will become the strategic bridge that will connect Europe to the Caspian Sea, Central Asia and the Middle East. “This connectedness will make it possible for us to present tourism as a common product of the countries from the region and to enhance its competitiveness on a worldwide scale,” the President emphasized and called on all participants to accelerate the work on launching projects such as “Black Sea Highway Ring” and “Sea Highways,” which is a priority for the European Commission.

The Head of State voiced his position that when debating the opportunities for developing the Black Sea’s potential, the countries from the region should take into account and seek interaction with other regional tools and initiatives.  According to Rosen Plevneliev, the Danube strategy also creates prerequisites for activating tourism, cultural exchange and social and economic cooperation. “I completely agree with what Stefan Fule, EU Commissioner for Enlargement,  said in Strasburg in 2012, namely that the deep approach to the Black Sea involves coordinating the policies within the framework of the Danube strategy, the Black Sea Synergy and the EU integrated sea policy,” the President pointed out.

The Head of State also emphasized that the EU’s attempts to guarantee energy supplies for Europe and to ensure diversification of the sources and the routes for the transit of natural gas provides the countries from the Black Sea basin with a new important role. The implementation of the European energy project Southern Gas Corridor, which will include projects such as the Trans-Adriatic Gas Pipeline and Nabucco-West, and the forthcoming construction of South Stream, creates even greater incentives for seeking a regional approach and reaching common decisions for the countries from the Black Sea region, President Rosen Plevneliev further added.