NEWS

President Rumen Radev Called for Reaffirming the Political Support for Setting Up an International Institute for Sustainable Technologies in the Balkans

The Head of State: Investments should be made not only in highways, but also in human capital and research cooperation

The Synchroton-Light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East SESAME in Jordan is an extraordinary facility, which proves that when a couple of countries from the region unite in the name of science and the development of high technologies and receive support from the EU and CERN, things are possible. This is what President Rumen Radev said, who during the first day of his official visit to Jordan visited a high-tech laboratory, a unique laboratory in the Middle East.

The President recalled that he has been supporting the efforts to set up an International Institute for Sustainable Technologies in Southeastern Europe for a year and a half. “The example set by the Middle East countries that they can unite is revealing. We can adopt a similar approach and have a center that can implement high technologies and allow us to conduct research in different scientific spheres – starting with physics, chemistry, nuclear physics and ending up with medicine and archeology,” Rumen Radev said. The President noted that when decisions are made to invest funds, we should not consider only highways. Although they are the cardiovascular system of economy, investments should also be made in human capital, in science, in scientific research laboratories. “We are EU member states and we still cannot ensure support for such investments, while other countries that are not EU members, receive such support,” the Head of State said.

The President recalled that a meeting of the steering committee for setting up an International Institute in Southeastern Europe was held at 2 Dondukov street and a decision was made whereby all Balkan government leaders should sign a memorandum on understanding in May, during the EU-Western Balkans summit in Sofia. However, this did not happen. We will continue to work to this end. We are happy to be supported by Jordan, we can cooperate with Prof. Rolf Heuer, who will offer methodological support to CERN to implement a technology, Rumen Radev said.

Founded by nine countries under the auspices of UNESCO, the SESAME laboratory aims to provide opportunities for conducting research in a lot of spheres and also to promote the international scientific cooperation.