NEWS

We should pursue our interests, not become hostage of foreign interests, the Head of State said ahead of the B9 summit in Kosice

 

“I am here to make sure that no one else decides the future of the Bulgarian energy projects. During the preparations for the meeting I established that specific texts of the prewritten declaration endanger the implementation of key infrastructure projects which serve our national interest and I did what was necessary to remove the problematic texts from the declaration.”  This is what President Rumen Radev said today in reply to a journalist’s question pertaining to the stance he will maintain at the B9 summit, which is held in the Slovak town of Kosice. 

 

Within the international forum Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland are to discuss security issues within NATO’s collective approach. 

 

The Head of State emphasized that he expects the Bulgarian government “to capitalize on the visit of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to Bulgaria so that Bulgaria doesn’t become hostage to foreign interests.” In Rumen Radev’s words, NATO has enough mechanisms to draw up a single policy, whereas the regional format sharpens rhetoric, which runs counter to the Alliance’s policy of restraint and dialogue. The President added that unfortunately the informal B9 initiative has distanced itself from its original idea and even poses risks to the interests of the nine member states, going beyond the approaches adopted by all 29 allies.  

 

The meeting also includes NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

 

President Rumen Radev discussed the opportunities for effective implementation of the European Union's financial programmes for promoting grassroots sport among young people and investment in innovation at a meeting at Dondukov 2 with EU Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth at the European Commission, Iliana Ivanova.

The Three Seas Initiative is establishing itself as a factor for the development of connectivity in the whole region of Central and Eastern Europe and is of key importance for promoting economic exchanges, investments and increasing security of supply of energy resources. This is what head of state Rumen Radev said at a meeting with Beata Daszynska-Muzyczka, Ambassador, Special Representative of the President of the Republic of Poland for the Three Seas Initiative. Poland will host the next summit of the initiative, which will take place in 2025.

The war in Ukraine has seriously changed not only the security architecture on a global scale, but also the way of conducting warfare, as well as the tactics and means used to implement operations. These new realities in the field of defence must be taken into account in the processes of modernisation of the armed forces and the conduct of joint exercises.

Radev opens forum on prospects for Central and Eastern European countries in reducing carbon emissions and building a green economy