Although we are facing a lot of crises in the world and in our region, the beginning of any crisis is rooted in violating the rules and the rule of law. This is what President Rosen Plevneliev said in the statement he made at the conference of the prestigious Center for European Policy Studies in Brussels.
In the Head of State’s words, the European Union does not mean only funds and rules for their utilization, but is also above all a peace project. “However, peace does not only boil down to the absence of war, but also to respecting human rights and obeying the principle of the rule of law,” President Plevneliev said. In his words, if the European institutions fail to obey the rule of law, if they fail to react against the violation of rules, the European Union will lose its direction.
In the Head of State’s view, history has proved that not the politicians who use force, but the strong institutions improve the lives of people. In the President’s words, society needs justice and obeying the rules which are valid for all. “And they are guaranteed by strong institutions,” President Plevneliev emphasized.
The Head of State pointed out that for the people in Southeast Europe, who have experienced the communist regime, Europe is a symbol of rights, equality, freedom and common principles.
Europe should not wait for the crises to escalate because when they become a news item, it is too late to take actions, the Bulgarian President further said. “There are a lot of examples illustrating how the European Commission acted decisively and showed the road to a positive change,” the President said and gave as an example Romania, which managed to overcome the institutional crisis it faced two years ago and is currently following the “right road.”