NEWS

President Plevneliev: the EU Leaders Reached a Broad Consensus on Electing Donald Tusk as the Next President of the European Council

The EU leaders reached a broad consensus on the proposal concerning the election of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk as the next President of the European Council. This is what President Rosen Plevneliev said after the extraordinary meeting of the European Council held in Brussels ended late last night.

In the Head of State’s view, the election shows a serious intention and is an adamant signal that the European Union will pursue a clear and principled policy particularly on the Ukrainian crisis and Russia. “Eastern Europe undertook the initiative and introduced fresh blood into our EU,” President Plevneliev further commented.  

The Head of State said that the EU leaders also reached a broad consensus on the nomination of Federica Mogherini for the post of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. Bulgarian EU Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva was also among the nominees for the position. In President Plevneliev’s view, Bulgaria had an extremely strong nominee and all European leaders congratulated Bulgaria on its nomination at the last extraordinary meeting of the European Council.

“I am adamant that the way we conducted the campaign and the nominee we chose will produce a good result for Bulgaria. You should aim for a high target, you should have ambitions and the results will not be late to come,” President Rosen Plevneliev commented.

In the Head of State’s view, Bulgaria should have more decisively worked for and supported the nomination of Kristalina Georgieva as early as the beginning of the debates on the high posts in the EC and the initial preparation of the membership of the Commission.

The Head of State said that Kristalina Georgieva enjoys a perfect and flawless reputation and this fact will help our country defend a very serious and high position in the next European Commission. The President pointed out that he has held intensive talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, with the President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy and others so that conditions can be created to ensure that the Bulgarian nomination attracts diplomatic and institutional support.

“Although I would currently not like to go into details, I am adamant that Bulgaria will be given control of a strong economic sector and will gain a high and serious position in the European Commission,” the President said regarding our country’s representation in the next EC. Rosen Plevneliev pointed out that Kristalina Georgieva’s nomination will surely be successful because she is “an extraordinary European and a leader enjoying world-wide reputation.” “This will be success not only for her, but also for the Bulgarian diplomacy and institutions, which have had the ambition to strive for the highest achievements,” the President commented.

The last consultations and negotiations on the membership of the European Commission will be held with each one of the member-states by 7 September and after that the membership will be announced. Our main goal is to form a strong and well-represented EC, which should start functioning with a “flying start and should efficiently solve the problems” as of 1 November, the Head of State explained.

In the past evening the European leaders held serious debates on the other leading topic of the extraordinary meeting of the European Council –imposing additional sanctions against the Russian Federation. “Hopefully a new phase of imposing sanctions will be avoided. We hope that Russia will ensure trust and de-escalation of tension and then no sanctions will be imposed. However, if the situation continues to deteriorate, the European leaders will unanimously support the idea of further sending signals to the Russian Federation indicating that what is done is no longer unacceptable,” the President pointed out.

The Head of State said that the EU leaders are reluctant to resort to extreme actions regarding Ukraine. “We will not send weapons, we will not send troops. However, the European Union, learning its lessons from World War II, must show character and defend its values,” the Head of State commented.  

The President said that the EU member-states will carefully coordinate their actions next week regarding the details of the new sanctions and will put forward proposals by Monday. After they are carefully discussed, the Head of State does not rule out the option for the proposals to be implemented within 10 days.  

During the extraordinary meeting of the European Council the European leaders held a debate on the terrorist organization Islamic state for the first time, the President said. “We will pinpoint this organization as a major source of instability and a serious threat to the peace in the region and Europe,” Rosen Plevneliev summarized the topic.

The EU leaders also debated the last economic data which show that Europe is yet to experience a difficult economic period and important solutions regarding not only economic growth and unemployment, but also the crises in the different parts of the world will be reached.   

In reply to a question the Head of State said that the deadline in which the plan for restructuring regarding the permission to provide state assistance to the Bulgarian banks, which should be submitted to the EC, expires on 31 August. A meeting on the topic with representatives of the EC was held in Bulgaria in the past week. “The EC received the whole information, it showed a positive attitude to the proposed plan for restructuring and providing state assistance. We expect that it will be promptly approved,” Rosen Plevneliev commented.

As for the upcoming NATO summit, which will be held in Wales at the beginning of September, the Head of State said that Bulgaria will take on the commitment to increase the percent of funding of the army in 2015 from 1.33 percent to 1.5 percent of the GDP.  After that gradually, in line with the capacities, 2 percent of the GDP should be reached by 2020. The other NATO member-states are also expected to take on such a commitment.

“We should realize that it will not be correct to cut the defense budget and expect that someone else will guard us when the situation becomes difficult or critical. Bulgaria should also contribute to ensuring stability and security by using its skills and capacities and should invest in them,” President Rosen Plevneliev commented in Brussels.