The European Union cannot achieve its strategic goal to be united and strong on the world arena if even only one of the member states is weak. Therefore we should be guided by the Union’s basic values – unity and solidarity which are enshrined in the EU’s cohesion policy. This is what President Rumen Radev said at a meeting with Karl Heintz Lambertz – president of the European Committee of the Regions.
The two were unanimous that the cohesion policy should be developed and further built upon because the idea of unity is essential for the European Union. Karl Heintz Lambertz highly appreciated the trilateral meeting between the Presidents of Bulgaria, Austria and Romania held in the town of Ruse and initiated by the Bulgarian Head of State, which focused on the development of the Danube region. “This is the correct approach because such initiatives contribute to enhancing cohesion,” the President of the European Committee of Regions said.
At the meeting Rumen Radev highlighted that it is not vociferous political declarations that will restore the public trust in the European institutions, but the attention devoted to the Europeans’ real problems. Rumen Radev and Karl Heintz Lambertz were unanimous that the cohesion policy should not pertain only to the implementation of investment projects, but investments should be made in the development of the human capital through programs targeted at improving education, healthcare, innovations and economy, particularly in the small towns and villages.
The Head of State emphasized that although the new EU Multiannual Financial Framework focuses on security, stability and migration, more efforts should be put into the development of the Cohesion policy. The preservation of the Cohesion policy in the EU’s budget in the post-2020 period presents new challenges to us because we have to guarantee that the earmarked funds will be allocated, spent and controlled in an efficient, transparent and expedient manner, Rumen Radev said. The President argued that that the easiest way to undermine the Cohesion policy is if corruption schemes with these funds are allowed.
At the meeting the Head of State and the President of European Committee of Regions discussed decentralization as a democratic model of the development of every society and the continuation of this process in Bulgaria.