NEWS

"South-Eastern Europe: A Region of Changes"

Esteemed presidents,
Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Friends,

I would like to congratulate the organizers on the timely conduction of this forum of international importance – it is an honor for us to have it held here, in Bulgaria. Today Europe is facing a lot of key challenges – migration, terrorism, economic and political instability. To cope with the problems, political leadership and a common approach are necessary. Not a single country can alone cope with the contemporary challenges. Erecting borders – no matter whether they are territorial, economic or legal – is a tempting, yet temporary solution. The history of the European Union has taught us that in times of hardship only integration works and it is the only means to achieve peace, security and human development.

We are living in turbulent times. The number of crises around the world is record high. They interact with each other and make the situation even more unpredictable. Failing states, frozen conflicts, wars and terrorism create insecurity around Europe. Our citizens feel that instability. They expect from politicians to act boldly, to solve, not to deepen the crises. The ongoing conflicts in Syria, the Middle East, and Northern Africa are threatening the lives of millions. The rising extremism that no borders can contain is a serious challenge to the international community. The degrading humanitarian situation in several conflict zones has forced millions of people to leave their homes, pack their whole lives in a suitcase and embark on a perilous, sometimes even deadly journey to safety. Hundreds of thousands of people are at Europe’s doorstep reaching out for a helping hand, struggling for the right to live. As a result, nationalistic parties that feed on people’s fears are seizing the momentum. Hate speech, racism, xenophobia, populism and aggressive nationalism are on the rise again. All these challenges transcend national borders and call on us to act together, with resolve on a global scale.

We should not wait for the crises to appear on our TV screens in order to act. It is high time we act together and address the causes, not the consequences. Every crisis can be traced back to its initial phase when someone violated the law and human rights. The conclusion is simple - to prevent future crisis development, a UN early crisis detection system is needed to safeguard the rule of law and human rights. This is what German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande spoke about yesterday in the historical statements they made at the European Parliament – about the fact that we should not wait for the crises to “shower” us, but we should act on time and in a proactive manner.

Purposeful actions are needed to prevent conflicts. Joint action by the international community in the fight against violent extremism is crucial. We need close cooperation not only between governments and law enforcement institutions, but also with civil society, local communities, media and the private sector in order to ensure durable and viable solutions. Only together can we be efficient. On a national level we should adopt policies and measures that would prevent the radicalization of marginalized groups and ensure their better integration in local societies. Terrorists for sure will be defeated by the united forces of the anti-terrorist coalition. The terrorists’ ideology cannot be defeated with weapons. It can be defeated with better ideas. History shows that terrorism has no religion. It can be defeated by societies which believe in human values. People with a high morality, who believe in tolerance and the dialogue with the different can defeat terrorism.

In the face of an unprecedented migration flow, the European Union will have to demonstrate solidarity and responsibility. We, in the EU, should not only address the crises, but solve them. It is one thing to focus on the problems and a completely different thing to solve them. However, most importantly, we should focus on our unity. Only together can we be efficient. And we should never forget our common desire to ensure a peaceful and free Europe.  The European Union represents the largest area of human rights, peace and democracy in the world. It is a united family that stands together in times of hardship.

Yes, the EU is a family. And every family is based on values, on a shared destiny, not on calculations and interests. And as it is in any family, everybody should be ready to give, even if that means sacrificing their own comfort and wealth, in order to help. Unless we are a family, unless we support European identity and the fact that we are together and have a mission, the EU will fail. Solidarity in the family is based on the responsibility of every member. Yes, we will help Greece, however reforms are expected, responsibility is expected. Yes, we will solve the problem with the refugees, however, not a single state can solve it alone. A common approach should be adopted and there should be shared responsibility. The right of sanctuary is a universal value, it is an indispensable part of the human rights we are a symbol of – we, the Europeans. The Bulgarians should recall those oppressed by the communist regime, the wars in the Balkans and the migration flows they triggered. We should recall the wave of Armenians, Belorussians, Bulgarians from Thrace and Macedonia who flooded the country after the bloody conflicts at the beginning of the 20th century. Do we recall that then the Bulgarians were poor, hungry, devastated by national catastrophes. However, they warmly welcomed their brethren.

Today by adding every piece of a new fence, by imposing mutual blockades of borders, by erecting razor-wire fences, by using water cannons and tear gas against the refugees, moreover in the heart of Europe, the EU is standing against its own rules, against its own values and identity.

Look at Shengen. Schengen is not merely a law or a directive. Schengen is a barometer of the state the EU is in. Schengen is the dream for Europe without borders, so that you can travel from Sofia to Berlin and from Krakow to Paris without showing your passport. We, the East-Europeans, can understand this best, because we were behind the “Iron Curtain” 25 years ago. However, today some EU member states impose a temporary non-application of the Schengen rules. Today Schengen is in danger.

All the crises we face in Europe may be solved only is we adopt a common European approach, only if we are together. The refugee crisis in Europe is an embodiment of the necessity to establish better mechanisms for making long-term common decisions. We should adopt a proactive approach – problems should be solved as soon as they arise, we should not postpone and hence aggravate the crises.

The refugees’ lives will not improve if the conflict in Syria continues. The international community should ensure a ceasefire, Europe should “bang” its hand on the table and say “Stop that bloody war.” We should guarantee the protection of the basic human rights, we should take on the difficult task to establish state institutions, there, in Syria, which should serve the people. It is high time we united and pooled efforts to cope with the reasons for the crisis, not only solve its consequences.

Dear friends,

Almost two decades have passed since the last big military conflict in the Balkans. I clearly remember these times. Bulgaria was then in the periphery of the enlarging European Union. Then the economic cooperation between the Balkan countries was weak, almost next to nothing.

Today Southeast Europe is totally different. A so far unseen economic and political cooperation between the countries is ongoing.
 
Southeast Europe has all chances of developing and realizing its great potential – the world economies also notice this trend.

The Balkan countries were isolated from each other 20 years ago. However, the number of Romanian tourists in Bulgaria was 300,000 five years ago; currently they are one and a half million. The Bulgarian tourists in Serbia were 50,000 ten years ago, currently they are 350,000. The trade between Bulgaria and Romania has shown a tenfold increase in the past decade, between Bulgaria and Serbia – a threefold increase, between Bulgaria and Greece – a sixfold increase. The economies of the individual countries and their citizens are constantly getting closer, we are already together.

We would not like to redraw the borders in the Balkans, we are striving to remove them. We are speeding up the cross-border cooperation and we are gradually realizing that the partnership between neighbors is a powerful tool, particularly here in the Balkans. It is unique to observe how peoples, who were separated by the Iron Curtain, are building their common future today. We more clearly see the difference between the isolated regions and the regions which cooperate. The formation of regional economies and political networks and clusters is an important prerequisite for attracting more investments and opening new markets not only in the West, but also in the East.

All countries in the region strive to achieve democratization and economic development. In this sense, EU integration has no alternative. Never before in history have the Balkan countries been so well connected with the other EU member states. Never before have cooperation and good-neighborly relations been such a decisive factor for positive development. European integration is a strategic choice for all countries. It should not lag behind, because it is important for the stability in the region and Europe should respectively recognize and further develop the potential of the Balkans.

The Balkans are also the place where Europe should show that it has learned the lessons from the Ukrainian crisis – the factor that changed the geopolitical balance on our continent. The citizens on the Maidana square demanded European prospects. However, the Kremlin refused to give up its geopolitical spheres of influence from the Cold War times. Russia is trying to confirm its influence even beyond the area of the former Soviet Union.

Currently Russia is pursuing a policy of influence and great powers, who define and decide the fate of other sovereign countries. This is a policy characteristic of the 19th century and is very dangerous. It was namely this policy that caused the breaking out of two world wars and namely here, in Europe. We cannot once again allow “political interests” to divide, to lead to the occupation of sovereign countries. The countries which have not joined the EU and particularly those in the Balkans should clearly voice their European prospects and should be supported on their European way. Bulgaria supports the EU membership of its neighbors. However, “Brussels does not grant EU membership”, but it is ensured by conducting bold reforms, ensuring good-neighborly relations and shared values.

Moscow places the Balkans in the center of its geopolitical interests. Our concern is that the policy of “great powers” disregards the sovereignty and the will of the individual nations and this can give rise to new sources of instability. History has taught us that Europe is most easily destabilized through the Balkans. Therefore the European Union should stop considering Southeast Europe as a periphery, but as a center of the European geopolitical interest and policies.

Until 2014, hardly had anyone imagined that the state borders in Europe would be moved by force. That was the reason for the sanctions imposed on Russia – democratic values cannot be suppressed. We do not agree with that, we have a common position and we act. What causes concern in this process is not only that apparently these sanctions will continue, but also that Russia’s isolation from the world processes of modernization and globalization is a fact.

The security environment in Europe considerably deteriorated in the past years. We are in a new phase of geopolitical confrontation, which I call “cold peace.” It is called peace because no one would like war, and no one would like us to go back to the Cold War period. At the same time such a type of peace is “cold” because the methods of the Cold War are here again – the policy of the great powers and their spheres of interest, the policy of a forcible change of borders, the policy of destabilization and an unprecedented propaganda and hybrid war. In this new phase of “cold peace” we have frozen conflicts. The question arises “Is it good for Ukraine that there is a yet another frozen conflict there, is this a good solution?” If we think about the people in Eastern Ukraine, if we would really like to solve the conflict, we should not strive to freeze the conflict, but find a long-lasting and sustainable solution of the conflict. Such a solution can be based only on the sovereignty of the countries, on common human values and the rule of law.

There is a real threat in Europe, dear friends, which is the result of this strategy of creating frozen conflicts, which is used as a tool to destabilize other countries and make them forever dependent. Unfortunately, this will continue for a long period of time. We should be prepared, we should be patient and make decisions based on values and which have a long-term horizon.

Dear friends,

Crises can be solved only through integration and cooperation. The current refugee crisis reminded us that we cannot take the principles that lay at the basis of our countries for granted – namely the rule of law, solidarity and equality. We should not forget that everything we built together is fragile and can be easily destroyed if we abandon our shared responsibility of respect for, encouragement and protection of these fundamental principles. The real, sustainable road of development means more, not less democracy. As President Zhelyo Zhelev said – democracy can easily be cured only by ensuring more democracy. Integration makes progress possible, therefore we need more, not less integration in Europe.

Europe’s history is a history above all of cooperation, diplomacy, technological and human success, not only wars and conflicts. Our democracies are not perfect, they do not always function well. However, it is namely democracy that makes us strong, free, humane. Our great strength lies in our integration, Bulgaria’s strength does not lie in its isolation. It lies in its EU membership, in NATO and the values it cherishes. The nations are not strong thanks to their armies and soldiers, the nations will be strong in the future thanks to their armies of scholars. The strength of a nation today is measured by the talent, inspiration, and culture of the people. The success of a country is not measured by its territory, moving or reshaping borders, annexing or occupying foreign territories – this is not success! The success of a country is measured by the success of the ordinary person. We do not need strong countries, which will make decisions for the weak, we need an international order in which everyone is important no matter whether they are rich or poor, strong or weak. We do not need strong states or personalities for whom the rules and human values are not valid. We need countries and leaders who believe that differences can be resolved in a  peaceful manner, not by force. It is not the powerful people that are the symbol of the successful state, dear friends, but the democratic institutions which serve the people.

The world needs active citizens who defend human rights. Today we need an active civil society that cares for human rights and freedoms. As President I stand behind the Bulgarian civil society that demands transparency and efficiency of state institutions. I am proud with the example Bulgarian civil society gave in 1943, by saving 48,000 Bulgarian Jews from the Nazi camps. Unfortunately, Bulgaria was in a situation where it could not do the same for the Jewish people from Northern Greece and parts of Yugoslavia, as they were not Bulgarian citizens. We deeply mourn the loss of their lives as well as all the victims of the Holocaust, whom we will always remember!

Just across from my office, in the very heart of the Bulgarian capital Sofia, there are temples of different religions – an Orthodox Church, a mosque, a synagogue, and a catholic cathedral. They have coexisted peacefully for centuries. This is a great example of tolerance, wisdom, and respect for diversity. Let us never forget that it is up to all of us to shape the world we live in with tolerance and humanism.

Thank you!