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Iliana Iotova: With Its Potential Bulgaria Will Build a Competitive Europe

The new European priorities must not be implemented at the expense of cohesion policy, the president said at the opening of this year's Green Transition forum 

Bulgaria can be actively involved in building the new European competitiveness as a country that offers solutions for the development of Southeastern Europe. Not as part of the periphery, but as a centre, not as an observer, but as a participant. This was stated by President Iliana Iotova at the opening of this year's Green Transition forum. The sixth edition of this large-scale event, organised by Dir.bg, is dedicated to the future of Europe as competitive, innovative and secure. Representatives of Bulgarian and international institutions, the European Commission, business, academia and the non-governmental sector take part in the forum, which continues until June 5.

In her speech, the head of state highlighted the dynamically changing world that is outpacing the change in European policies. She pointed to the return of security to the centre of the European agenda, the transformation of energy into a strategic advantage, the rearrangement of global supply chains, and the ever-growing role of artificial intelligence. In this environment, competitiveness is a matter of sovereignty, income, jobs, social stability and political dignity, the president said.

In her words, Europe's new priorities – defence, innovation, artificial intelligence, energy security – should not be implemented at the expense of cohesion policy. European competitiveness will not be restored through a new division, but through true convergence, a common market without hidden barriers, strong energy, modern connectivity, industrial policy, access to capital, artificial intelligence and participation of all member states in the new economy, Iotova said. She was categorical that Europe has a future if it is simultaneously competitive, innovative, secure and cohesive. If it chooses solidarity as a strength, not as a weakness, and connectivity instead of division.

Cohesion policy must continue to equalise opportunities between regions, said the head of state, emphasising the need to analyse previous European policies, the results of which have not been accepted unequivocally. Among them, she highlighted the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the Green Deal, REPowerEU . ReArm Europe and the SAFE instrument place a legitimate emphasis on defence. Europe must be able to defend itself, but EUR 150 billion of SAFE loans cannot alone build a European defence industry if there are no common procurements, interoperability, stable supply chains, access for companies from all regions and a real market for joint production, the head of state said.

In her address, the President focused on the debate on the EU's Multiannual Financial Framework 2028-2034. She defined it as a conversation about whether the EU will be a union of solidarity and cohesion, or will it become a union of different speeds, in which stronger countries receive faster access to capital, technologies and solutions, while the others have to constantly catch up. The Multiannual Financial Framework, Iotova pointed out, must be based on several basic principles: convergence, competitiveness, flexibility, control, transparency, reforms with real results.

Europe needs a new European Competitiveness Fund, but it should not become an instrument that benefits only the countries with the strongest administrative and corporate capacity, because that is how we will finance a new concentration, President Iotova stressed. Therefore, there must be clear regional guarantees, strong participation of local authorities, tools and opportunities for less developed regions and consortia between enterprises from different Member States, including at least one smaller or catching-up economy, she pointed out.

The head of state also emphasised the talk of a two-speed Europe. It seems like a convenient mechanism for faster decisions, but in the long term, it hides the risk of political fragmentation, regional blocs and new invisible borders within the union, Iotova said. In her words, the EU was not created to sort member states into first and second class, and its greatest strength is its ability to turn differences into a common direction.

Iliana Iotova focused on energy, transport and digital connectivity as key to the development of a competitive Europe. Competitiveness has a physical infrastructure. It is not just a regulation, a budget or a slogan, but also a power line, a railway line, a port, a data centre, a laboratory, a factory, a university, a venture capital fund and a functioning administration. Europe must return to these specifics, the president added.

The Head of State stressed Bulgaria's potential to play an active role in creating a competitive Europe, as well as our country's key position in the region. In the field of energy and energy connectivity, she recalled the projects in which Bulgaria participates. The Vertical Gas Corridor through Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova and Ukraine shows the strategic importance of the Bulgarian state for the diversification of supplies and for energy security, the president pointed out. According to her, connecting the Greek terminals, the Bulgarian gas infrastructure, the Romanian connections and the Ukrainian needs into a real market would be an example of European strategic autonomy in action.

The President also highlighted the opportunities for Bulgaria to become a transport and logistics hub. From the Greek ports through Bulgaria and Romania to Moldova and Ukraine, a vertical South-North axis is being formed with enormous importance for trade, security and the reconstruction of Ukraine. In her words, this axis should be recognised as a strategic European corridor and financed not as a collection of national sections, but as a common European project. If the European Union wants real diversification of supply chains, the Balkans cannot be an infrastructure periphery. They must be part of the heart of the new European logistics, she emphasised.

The choice of Bulgaria to be among the countries in which one of the European gigafactories for artificial intelligence will be built proves the capabilities of our country and the prospects for it to be a digital centre, the head of state added. She pointed out that Europe must create a real infrastructure for artificial intelligence and data storage. Artificial intelligence factories must be connected to universities, business and industry in all regions, so as to build a European continent of innovation, and not several separate technological islands. The President also pointed out the Bulgarian opportunities in the field of industry.

Bulgaria can be the voice of cohesion policy in the new competitiveness. We must say that regional development and high technologies are not opposites. On the contrary – future cohesion must be cohesion of modernisation, emphasised Iliana Iotova.

The President recalled the reports by Mario Draghi on EU competitiveness and by Enrico Letta on the future of the EU's single market, highlighting the correct diagnosis they gave to Europe. She stressed the need for these reports to become a calendar for action. If there are no deadlines, there is no implementation. If there is no implementation, there is no trust. And if there is no trust, the European project will be attacked not only from the outside, but also from within, Iotova added, proposing that the EU adopt a European Performance Pact with measurable targets by 2030. The President stressed that Europe must move from a policy of announced goals to a policy of implemented projects.