We are witnessing nationalist and populist rhetoric that calls into question some of the European Union’s biggest achievements – the single currency, the common market, the freedom of movement, and the process of enlargement. “It is our duty to prevent short-lived political interests from undermining the foundations of the European project.” This is what President Rosen Plevneliev said in a lecture delivered in Stuttgart on 9 May on the occasion of the Day of Europe.
The head of state pointed out that the vote for the European Parliament due to be held in the EU member states between 22 and 25 May will determine the direction of the European Union’s development over the next five to 10 years. “Europe’s most powerful weapon if its unity and the fact that each member is important. We will not be strong if we are split into a center and a periphery and build up a Europe developing on two or more tracks. If some countries regard the Balkans as the European Union’s periphery, other such as Russia think they are located at the heart of the strategic interests. We are still young democracies and if are left without any support, the entire region is likely to be taken back in its democratic development and lose some of its biggest achievements. A second new phase in South-Eastern Europe’s democratic development should be supported”, Rosen Plevneliev said.
The president warned that a delay in the process of the European Union’s enlargement towards the Western Balkans will render the region more vulnerable to destabilizing influences beyond the Euro-Atlantic community. “South-Eastern Europe needs the EU’s ‘soft power’ more. We should be proud of the fact that our societies have successfully undergone a huge social and political transformation, though the Balkans are still unstable and exposed to the influences of external forces,” Plevneliev stated, singling out as the biggest success of the countries in the region their return to the path of democratic development and to the European values.
“The events in Ukraine showed us that we cannot possibly take peace and stability in Europe for granted. As member of the EU and NATO a country should not create a false feeling of security, because we have already seen clear signs of changes in the democratic landscape of Central and South-Eastern Europe. It is only through a deep Euro-Atlantic partnership that the region will manage to protect itself from negative development. This will be achieved by the establishment of functional state institutions, an active civil society, and intensive economic and political integration in Europe,” Rosen Plevneliev pointed out.
In his lecture the president outlined the economic advantages that Bulgaria enjoys from its membership in the European Union. “Still the idea for a common European Union goes far beyond its economic and financial dimensions. The creation of united Europe was prompted by the peoples’ aspirations to live in peace. After World War Two we saw a drastic improvement of public welfare, which Europe had never experienced before. Recently we may have lost focus, but Russia’s aggression in Ukraine should bring all European politicians back to our common foundation and to our genuine values,” the head of state further said in Stuttgart.