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Rumen Radev: With Adequate Long-term Strategies, Bulgaria Has the Potential to Be a Regional Factor in a Number of Areas

Ensuring Bulgaria's prosperity and security requires our country to play an active role in the alliances and multinational formats in which it participates, to develop good neighbourly relations, and for the political class to be able to create adequate long-term strategies in various areas. This was stated by President Rumen Radev in the closing part of the second day of the Green Transition forum, which is being held in our country for the fifth year. The event brings together politicians, experts, and business leaders who present their point of view on accelerating the transition of Central and Eastern Europe to a sustainable economy without the region losing competitiveness.

The President pointed out that in the dynamic and full of risks and conflicts global agenda it is becoming increasingly difficult to outline the future, while at the same time the existing mechanisms for economic growth on the Old Continent seem to be falling apart. In Europe, cheap energy no longer exists, cheap labour is not guaranteed, cheap capital in the form of zero interest rates has long disappeared, said the Head of State. In his words, flexibility and adaptability should be shown regarding the role of the state in the development of different areas of the economy and the sources of growth should be defined. According to the President, Bulgaria should take advantage of its key geographical advantages, its natural resources and create conditions to promote the enormous potential of its citizens.

The prosperity of any country depends on the functioning of inclusive political and economic institutions, said Rumen Radev, adding that the most important sign of their existence is the guarantee of property rights. In addition, we read and see almost daily that there are disputes and cases of business theft; the President said pointing out that this phenomenon must be limited. Inclusive economic institutions guarantee fair competition, but instead we see numerous public procurements distorting the economic and social environment, the president added, highlighting the importance of brightening the economy and increasing investments in scientific and technological progress.

Inclusive political institutions should commit to creating and maintaining a healthy state that enforces law and order, and should not be confused with dictatorship. However, we see that much needs to be done in this regard in our country as well, said the head of state and called for an active debate on this topic.

President Radev outlined several economic areas in which Bulgaria has the potential and the resources to develop much more successfully and become a regional factor. Rumen Radev gave an example of transport connectivity and added that Bulgaria should take advantage of the increased supply flows by developing logistics hubs. In terms of energy, our country can take advantage of access to gas transmission networks and terminals and not only consume and transport energy, but also sell and profit from it. Opportunities for this are provided by the initiation of green energy corridors, the creation of conditions for storing energy from renewable sources, the construction of combined heat and power plants and the effective use of geothermal energy. The President pointed out that in terms of digital connectivity, Bulgaria has the potential to build centres for storing, processing and distributing information arrays. The head of state also noted the possibility of even more effective utilisation of underground resources by creating end products, the value of which exceeds that of raw materials many times over. Bulgaria can contribute to food security in the region if conditions are created for our farmers to be able to join forces, said Rumen Radev.

The President once again called for work on the implementation of a National Space Centre for Observation, Coordination and Management. The project was proposed by the presidential institution during the public discussion of the Recovery and Resilience Plan and the EC has approved funding for it, but it has now been transformed into a unit within the Ministry of Interior. According to Rumen Radev, the creation of the centre in its full scale will provide an opportunity to collect information, based on which not only scientific activity will be developed and decisions will be made in crisis situations, but also resources in the country will be managed more effectively.

President Radev welcomes the ambitious approach of the organisers of Green transition to attract more and more representatives from different fields, giving them a platform for in-depth debates about the future and encouraging critical thinking, which is a driver of progress. The forum went beyond the framework of the green transition and the search for a balance between green policies and industrialisation, it also expresses the place of Bulgaria, the region and Europe on the global economic, social, and climate map, said the head of state.

Professor Daron Acemoglu also extended a greeting to the guests of the event yesterday evening in Sofia. He is the winner of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Economics and a lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The event was attended by diplomats, representatives of the executive and local authorities, business, and the diplomatic corps in our country.