NEWS

The President: Bulgaria can use Portugal's experience to achieve energy autonomy

The excellent top-level political relations with Portugal are a prerequisite for development in all areas of mutual interest, the Head of State says during his visit to Portugal

Portugal is one of the leaders in Europe in terms of innovative solutions that give autonomy in the energy sector and the building of a green economy, and Bulgaria can learn from this experience, is what President Rumen Radev told the media in Portugal. The Head of State is on a formal visit to that country at the invitation of his opposite number, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, with whom he had a meeting in Porto yesterday. On the second day of his visit, the Bulgarian Head of State held talks in the capital Lisbon with Prime Minister Antonio Costa and the Speaker of the Portuguese Parliament, Augusto Santos Silva.
 
The focus of the meeting between President Radev and Prime Minister Costa was Portugal's experience in implementing the Recovery and Resilience Plan, under which the country was one of the first in the EU to have received funding. Portugal has already made a substantial headway in the most difficult part - the implementation of the plan and the reforms, which we are about to do, the Head of State said adding that in order to achieve its lofty goals, Portugal had established around 60 consortia, bringing together the country's leading scientists, universities, research laboratories and businesses, with the involvement of the administration. The President also gave an example of Portugal's successful work on the plan with the country's application of energy storage technologies, the production of "green hydrogen", as well as research into the development of hydrogen-powered vehicle engines.
 
Trust in the bilateral dialogue and the shared positions on a number of topics on the EU agenda are an excellent basis for furthering the partnership between Bulgaria and Portugal at all institutional levels, was the common position of President Radev and the President of the Portuguese Assembly, Augusto Santos. The two highlighted the role of Bulgaria and Portugal in ensuring the security of the Europe's external borders and in promoting the European principles in the countries applying for EU membership. Santos invited Radev to a session of the Assembly, where the Bulgarian Head of State was welcomed by the MPs.
 
During his visit to Portugal, the President was accompanied by his wife, Desislava Radeva. On the second day, the Head of State visited the Military Institute in Lisbon, where he was welcomed by his counterpart Rebelo de Sousa. Radev spoke before lecturers and students on the contemporary security challenges in Europe. The Bulgarian President also visited the European Maritime Safety Agency, based in Lisbon, and the Champalimaud Foundation, Portugal's largest research centre with a cancer treatment unit. The President will also meet members of the Bulgarian community in Portugal.
 
Responding to a journalist's question about the evacuation of the Bulgarian crew of the Tsarevna ship, which is blocked in Ukraine, the President said that there should be no doubts that the government and the responsible institutions were doing everything possible to ensure the health, safety and evacuation of the Bulgarian sailors. The Head of State stressed that the debate on the issue should temporarily be limited in order for the operation to pass safely.
 
Asked to comment on the European perspective of the Republic of North Macedonia, Rumen Radev stressed that it was extremely important that Bulgaria adhered to the National Framework Position, the Parliament's Declaration and the consensus reached at the Consultative Council for National Security. This is the only guarantee to have sustainability and irreversibility of the integration process of the Republic of North Macedonia, the Head of State added.
 
It will take a lot of time and effort to deal with the flawed governance model rejected by the Bulgarian voters, President Radev said in the wake of the criticism of Bulgaria contained in a US State Department report on last year's human rights in the country. In the Head of State's words, tackling the flawed governance model will not happen quickly and will require continuous daily efforts.