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President Rumen Radev: Sustainable Development is not only a Political and Economic Challenge, but also a Stage in Humankind’s Cultural Maturation

At the International Forum in St. Petersburg the Bulgarian Head of State emphasized that sustainable development requires also a global consensus against corruption, money laundering, tax evasion and imposing restrictions on offshore zones

Sustainable development is not only a political and economic challenge, but also a stage in humankind’s cultural maturation. Its fundament is the mutual recognition and acceptance of the national cultural codes. This is what the Head of State said in the statement he made at the presidential panel of the international economic forum in St. Petersburg, dedicated to sustainable development. President Rumen Radev is the first Bulgarian Head of State who participates in the prestigious event.

In his address to the participants in the forum, Rumen Radev said that cultural differences have a direct impact on the security environment and when they have not been recognized, realized and accepted as the right of the other, they create mistrust and risks for security and consequently for sustainable development. The lack of cultural communication lies at the heart of perceiving the “other as an opponent,” the President said and recalled the words of the great Bulgarian revolutionary Gotze Delchev, who more than a century ago said that he understood the world “only as a sphere for cultural competition between the peoples.”

In Rumen Radev’s opinion, sustainable development is impossible without sustainable trust, security and social peace. The elimination of widespread starvation proved to be insufficient to achieve real stability, migration waves are not subsiding and the number of refugees is increasing. The lack of security and poverty are driving people to migration and fuel xenophobia and nationalism in the countries of destination. “An efficient model for guaranteeing security and stability, for investments in economy, education and healthcare in the migrants’ countries of origin are necessary,” the Head of State called for.

Rumen Radev highlighted the necessity for a more efficient mechanism for global security, which should restrict the temptation for unilateral, coercive actions, for making dialogue and multilateral diplomacy a priority and for opposing polarization and radicalization. In the President’s words, sustainable development requires also overcoming and preventing financial crises, and this means a more precise control of financial markets. A global consensus against corruption, money laundering, tax evasion and imposing  restrictions on offshore zones is necessary. “I believe that all political leaders are familiar with these problems and we need goodwill in this respect. The topic has been discussed years on end and it is time for solutions,” the President argued.   

 “In the new millennium sustainable development has taken a top place on the global agenda. Throughout these years some countries took advantage of globalization, others assumed the role of losers,” Rumen Radev said. The Head of State emphasized that the planet is gasping for air from the excessive exploitation of its riches and the enormous trade flows. The population is growing while the resources are insufficient. The free migration of capitals in the digital era without clear rules generates a risk for the most vulnerable societies. Excessive consumption, which has become a symbol of economic and personal success, has already started threatening our common future.

These processes together with undermining the international legal order and the transition to the new polycentric world generate instability and in the President’s opinion, one of the indicators for this is the annual increase in budget spending on defense. As a result the security environment does not improve, while mistrust is growing. The ambition to achieve technological superiority, guaranteeing political advantages also causes great imbalances and results in a technological breakup and mistrust among the countries.

“The unequal development shattered a lot of ideas and gave birth to a new world. Who would have presumed 20 years ago that China would become the pillar of the free trade idea and the US would impose protectionism? Who would assume that in Europe in which we have reasserted a tolerance model for decades on end, again neo-fascist and extremist movements would be on the rise under the pressure of social disproportions and immigration?” Rumen Radev said.

In the President’s words, a new supranational worldview of citizens of the planet is necessary, which the young people have already embraced but the politicians cannot allow themselves to have because the world is an arena of competition and conflicts between the countries. “Nature, however, has been calling on us to overcome the boundaries of our own egoism. Our predecessors overcame their contradictions and established the post-war global order in the name of peace and the UN was the key to this success,” Rumen Radev emphasized. He added that precisely in the dawn of Cold War this conventional wisdom for unification gained ground and today it is our duty to do the same for the salvation of the planet and humankind.

The President highlighted the economic forum in St. Petersburg as a meeting point of great economy with great politics, at which key problems of contemporary development are discussed and added that he accepts the invitation extended to him to participate in the forum as recognition of Bulgaria’s capacity to build bridges between different regions and cultures.

In Rumen Radev’s view, overcoming the challenges of sustainable development requires a comprehensive approach, uniting a broad range of instruments – from political to cultural. “If we want a sustainable development for humankind, it is high time that all of us together specify clear rules and goals of its implementation. In my opinion the place this activity should be carried out is the UN, we should learn how to use the potential of this organization and to reinforce its instruments and mechanisms,” the Head of State further said in his statement made at the international economic forum in St. Petersburg.

Rumen Radev extended an invitation to representatives of international companies, participating in the economic forum, to invest in Bulgaria. The President singled out as a positive example the thousands of German companies functioning in Bulgaria, which expand their activity and have contributed to hitting 8.3 billion euros in trade between Bulgaria and Germany in 2018.

In reply to a question during the follow-up discussion on the cooperation between Bulgaria and China, including within the One belt, One road initiative, President Rumen Radev recalled his idea for opening a center for global partnership between the EU and China in our country, which should analyze the European procedures and legislation and propose efficient investment solutions of mutual interest.

This year’s top-level panel was also attended by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, the President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping, the Prime Minister of Slovakia Peter Pellegrini and the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan.