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President Rumen Radev: Europe Alone Limits its Security Policy to Reacting to Threats

2018-10-18 21:01:00

In a lecture delivered before Oxford Union, the Bulgarian Head of State called on the students not to limit themselves to following ready-made instructions, but to preserve their critical thinking and remain irreconcilable to injustice and replacement of truth

Europe alone limits its security policy to reacting to threats. In the short run, this could look like the cheapest way to provide a satisfactory level of security. But in the long run, it will require enormous resources, combined with the inability to guarantee adequate security. This is what President Rumen Radev said in a lecture on the topic of: “The security challenges Europe is facing,” which he delivered before Oxford Union, the biggest debating society at Oxford University, established in 1823.

At the prestigious debate forum the Head of State emphasized that the EU is reluctant to allocate budget to build adequate military capabilities and make investments in security and is indecisive in projecting stability and providing assistance for development, when it is necessary to take action outside its territory.

In the President’s words, throughout human history, security has always been the foundation of the progress and wellbeing of each society. Without security, it’s useless to talk about economy, social development, education. “History has severely punished governments and alliances, failing to build timely resistance to threats,” the Head of State emphasized.

As a topical example, the President provided the migrant crisis in Europe and called for a deeper analysis of the negative effects ensuing from the migrants’ “Open door policy” in Europe. In Rumen Radev’s view, focusing on our own migrant problems, leads to not paying enough attention to the parallel emergency process and the real crisis. “For me, the Open door policy has a devastating effect on the countries of origin – from Africa to the Middle East, as it mentally disconnects their young generation from their homeland problems and future,” the Head of State emphasized.  This policy shifts the young people’s value system. Rather than being committed to the stabilization and development of their countries, the major goal of a large part of them in their lives is to reach the West European countries and take advantage of their social systems.

As a problem for the EU in its relations to the other global factors, the President highlighted the failure to take timely decisions on important for the European citizens issues, while other leaders are an embodiment of taking a one-man decision. “These leaders can decide something tonight and implement it tomorrow morning, while in the EU it can take months and even years. I have had long debates with my fellow EU presidents and leaders. Most of them argue that the “one-man decision” approach is based on authoritarian mechanisms, while our EU decisions rest on our democratic values and are more stable and resilient in the long run. I fully agree with them, except for one small detail: Where is the finishing line? Who is going to wait for us? What is the price for losing the race?” the President asked. The Head of State was adamant that Europe must find an efficient way to cope with this situation without compromising its democratic foundations.

Rumen Radev also recalled that after the new US president pressed for a new burden sharing model in NATO and the sudden eruption of trade war, some leading European politicians argued that Europe must take its security in its own hands. “Is this possible, however? What is European defense without US military support? The Libyan operation in 2011 revealed a huge European deficit in the area of Command and Control  systems, intelligence, Precision Guided Munitions, air-to-air refueling and strategic mobility, a deficit which has not been overcome yet,” the Head of State said. The President identified as s substantial challenge in front of the European security the unity of the EU and NATO.

“Nowadays, our unity has been challenged from outside by big strategic players, who use security support, trade conditions, cheap energy supply and attractive investment opportunities to stimulate bi-lateral relations with European countries, instead of dealing with EU as an entity,” the President further added.

As internal challenges Europe is facing, the President identified the economic discrepancy between East and West, North and South Europe, growing inequalities, undermining the rule of law and high level corruption, the inability of EU institutions to meet the citizens’ expectations and to implement timely reforms. All these are the main drivers for the fading trust in the European Union - thus increasing our security risks.

The topical issues about guaranteeing European security were commented in the Head of State’s lecture through the prism of the Effects Based Operations, developed by the US Air Force during the 1st Gulf War 1991 and also through the experience of a pilot forced to act in emergency situations for which there were no instructions in the manual of a contemporary fighter plane. On the basis of these instruments, the President reviewed of some methods used in the conflicts from antiquity till today: the classical military clash, Effects Based Operations, terror acts, hybrid war.

In his lecture Rumen Radev emphasized that the EU does not even need to produce so many EU and national regulations, directives and ready-to-use solutions, because in many cases they look like an outdated pilot’s emergency manual, which is useless in unpredictable circumstances. “We need active citizens, irreconcilable with injustice, immune to fake-news and always ready to defend the democratic values,” the President addressed the young people.

In the President’s words, the challenge our security is facing is the very relevance and sustainability of the current European model. In the Head of State’s view, we have no choice, but to reshape our security model and  institutions in order to be more ambitious and proactive in shaping the strategic environment by properly integrating the main instruments of power – economy, diplomacy, information and military.

“We need to reshape the architecture and functionality of our institutions. They emerged in the pre-digital era with few and state-controlled TV channels, no social networks and a vertical information and decision-making hierarchy. Today the dimensions of power are shifting from centralized and vertical to horizontal and scattered. One Facebook post can rally thousands of people on the street just in hours. This is one of the main reasons European citizens feel under-represented in our institutions and they lose trust in them,” the President said.

“You have the privilege to study in the best universities. However, along with the best curricula, your schools inevitably put you in a box, limiting the scope of your sensors and thinking. If they do not succeed, your politicians will try to put you back into the box. If they somehow fail to do this, the media will always be there to finalize that task,” Rumen Radev further emphasized in his lecture and called on the students who want to be successful in today’s enormous pace of change not to allow their thinking to be restricted to pre-given frameworks.

Taking a question regarding how Bulgaria can balance the rising tension between the US and Great Britain, on the one hand, and Russia, on the other, the President said that our country cannot direct the politics of these countries, but can determine its own politics. Rumen Radev told about the cause of the great British statesman William Gladstone dedicated to supporting the Bulgarian people and its attempts to achieve liberation and political independence after the April uprising, who was led by moral values, even when the then incumbent British Prime Minister Disraeli supported the Ottoman Empire, led by the British strategy and interests to counteract the Russian attempts to ensure influence in the region.

“A lot of interests clash in Bulgaria. However, it is a NATO and EU member state. Yet Bulgaria should also defend its national interest – not only in the security sphere, but also in the spheres of economy and energy,” President Radev said and added that the policy our country pursues should be balanced and based on values.

In reply to a student’s question regarding the possibility for the Republic of Turkey to join in prospect the EU, Rumen Radev emphasized that he can quote European leaders according to which Turkey is distancing itself from the European values. However, Turkey is Bulgaria’s important neighbor and partner. We would like to see Turkey as a prospering country in which the democratic principles are deeply rooted in its government, Rumen Radev emphasized. The President called for preserving the constructive and open dialogue between the EU and Turkey, which clearly outlines the membership criteria and accepts that membership is achieved by those countries that can meet them.

Earlier the President met and talked with Bulgarian students and members of the committee of Oxford Union.

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