NEWS

 

 

The Head of State holds a telephone talk with the President of the State of Israel

 

Bulgaria supports and is part of the international efforts to cease-fire, release the hostages, restore dialogue, and find a peaceful solution to the conflict in the Gaza Strip as soon as possible. This was stated by President Rumen Radev in a telephone conversation with the President of the State of Israel, Isaac Herzog. The session took place in connection with President Herzog's postponed visit to Bulgaria due to the internal political situation in our country. The focus of the conversation was the military actions in the Middle East following the terrorist attack by Hamas against the State of Israel on 7 October last year and the humanitarian crisis for the civilian population in the Gaza Strip.

 

The Bulgarian President recalled that at the very beginning of the conflict, our country vehemently condemned the terrorist attack by Hamas against the State of Israel and denounced the taking of hostages. President Radev stated that the State of Israel has the right to self-defence against terrorism, but at the same time, he expressed his deep concern over the unprecedented number of civilian casualties and the critical humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, calling on Israel to find a way to guaranteeing the lives of the civilian population.

 

The head of state also pointed out that Bulgaria is part of the general decision of the European Council from March, with which European leaders call on Israel not to launch an offensive in the city of Rafah, which would have catastrophic consequences in humanitarian terms. Bulgaria shares the European Council's call for an immediate humanitarian pause that would lead to a permanent ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages and the provision of humanitarian aid. He also recalled that among the hostages held by Hamas there are two people of Bulgarian origin.

 

During the talk, the situation with the crew of the "Galaxy Leader" ship detained off the coast of Yemen, including two Bulgarian citizens, was also discussed.

 

The numerous crises in Europe's neighbouring regions make increasing investments in the defence and security sphere a necessity, but the capacities of each individual country should also be taken into account as to what percentage of its GDP it can allocate to this, the President stressed during a meeting with European Council President Antonio Costa on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference

Rumen Radev underlined the importance of our country's initiative for the transmission of green energy from Azerbaijan to Europe via Turkiye, which is of interest for the whole region during a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan within the Munich Security Conference

President Rumen Radev had a meeting with the President of the Autonomous Region of Iraqi Kurdistan (AIRK) Nechirvan Barzani

The Head of State pointed to the positive trend in the economic and investment cooperation, an indicator of which is the sustainable trade in goods, which for another year reached EUR 12 billion a year with a positive balance for this country