Europe should handle not only the economic crisis, but also the crisis of public trust and the Euro-skepticism among the European citizens. This was the position the heads of state of the “Arraiolos” group, who are holding an unofficial meeting in the Polish town of Krakow, agreed on. The presidents of Poland, Germany, Finland, Bulgaria, Estonia, Portugal, Italy and Latvia called on the political leaders in Europe to stop blaming Brussels for their domestic problems, since this also undermines the trust in the EU.
According to the heads of state from the “Arraiolos” countries, the top priorities of the European Union should be economic growth and creating new jobs.
Rosen Plevneliev emphasized at the forum that the European economies should not grow at the expense of the next generations and the countries should not spend more than they produce. The Bulgarian Head of State reiterated before his counterparts that the citizens should not be given promises that cannot be kept.
In Krakow Rosen Plevneliev opened the traveling exhibition titled “The strength of the civil society: the fate of the Jews in Bulgaria,” dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the historical deed performed by the Bulgarian people when they rescued the Bulgarian Jews during World War II.
“Tolerance is not a pre-given fact, it should be transmitted to each next generation, which should be brought up in this spirit. Bulgaria is a good example of that and even today an orthodox church, a catholic temple, a synagogue and a mosque are erected next to each other in the center of Sofia,” the President said at the ceremony, which was also attended by professor Yacek Majchrowski, mayor of Krakow.
In the Jewish Culture center in the old Polish capital of Krakow, the Head of State recalled the history of the rescue of the Bulgarian Jews during World War II and the decisive role played by the Bulgarian civil society. The Head of State recalled that at that difficult historical moment Bulgaria was the only country in Europe in which the Jewish community not only survived, but also increased in number. In his statement, President Plevneliev paid tribute to the victims of the Holocaust and called on for remembering the lessons from the past. Students studying Bulgarian language and literature in Krakow also attended the opening ceremony of the exhibition in the Jewish Culture center.
On the second day of his visit to Poland, the President will take part in the third plenary session of the meeting of the “Arraiolos” group, at which the positions of the European countries on the Eastern partnership summit will be coordinated. The emphasis will be laid on the forthcoming meeting in Vilnius to be held at the end of November, where an EU Association Agreement with Ukraine is to be signed. Also EU Association Agreements with Georgia and Moldova will be endorsed.