SPEECHES AND STATEMENTS

Statement by President Rosen Plevneliev During the Primary Session of the South East Europe Cooperation Process (SEECP) Summit

Dear President Nishani,

Mr. Secretary-General of the RCC,

Presidents, Prime – Ministers, Excellences, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to extend my gratitude to President Nishani and our Albanian friends for the good organization and great hospitality.

It is a pleasure to be here today and share my firm belief in the great potential of our region. The South East Europe Cooperation Process plays a major part in our efforts to uncover and develop that potential.

Dear friends,

We have already achieved a lot. We made significant progress on the Balkans. Remember: 20 years ago we had Dayton, 20 years ago we had Srebrenitsa and almost 20 years ago we had bombings in Belgrade. 20 years ago we started the South East Europe Cooperation Process. And we made a difference. The change is positive and it happens quickly. The major driver of this positive change is the engine of regional cooperation and European integration. We should look ahead and not behind us. Aggression, instability and change of borders through force do not bring any good future. Neither do populism and aggressive nationalism.

We have achieved a lot; we have solved serious problems on the Balkans. But we are only half way there. We should continue our journey towards our goal of peaceful and prosperous Balkans. Bulgaria considers regional cooperation, reconciliation, connectivity and good neighborly relations core values.

Let us deepen and expand our cooperation. Let us enhance the level of trust, because trust and good communication could prevent a lot of crises.  Let us increase our interdependence – common banks, security systems, defense capabilities – that brings all of us together. Let us avoid double games and double standards – in history, in politics, in democracy, in the rule of law and media freedom.

We believe in politics, based on European values and the rule of law. We want borders on the Balkans to fall, not to be moved. We work for progress and development, for connectivity and integration on the Balkans. We work for good neighborly relations. We have accelerated cross border cooperation. Cooperation between neighbors is a very powerful instrument, especially on the Balkans. It is unique to see how people on both sides of the Iron Curtain get together and build their common future. Now we can see the difference between isolated, forgotten regions and regions that cooperate. Every single country, every nation in the region can and must contribute to our goal of peaceful, democratic and prosperous Balkans. We are all united in our European future. The Balkans is truly a beautiful and exciting part of Europe. They are our home. We plan and build common transport corridors, highways, railways, cross-border points, energy and digital networks. We share a strategic location, beautiful nature, common history and strong potential. Only together we can guarantee stability and development, because without stability, there is no development. Together we can open new markets. Together we can attract strategic investors. Together we can boost tourism and production. Together we can fight terrorism, natural disasters, isolation and poverty.

The challenges we face today are too complex for any nation to handle them on its’ own. Energy dependence, lack of connectivity, economic problems, climate change, those are some of the issues that we all have to deal with. The crises in Ukraine and the Middle East fundamentally changed the security environment and brought new threats to our region. We are seeing the biggest migratory flow towards Europe in decades. All these new problems go beyond the borders of any single nation. Those problems are transnational and require a regional approach.

The Balkans is an example of positive change. In the past our region was often referred to as “the powder keg of Europe”. From a region torn apart by conflicts and wars we became a region joined together in peace. Today we build bridges of trust and cooperation. For example, last year the Balkans was affected by unprecedented flooding. Bulgaria was among the first nations to offer assistance to our neighbors. Thousands of people from all over the country donated food, medicine and other products of necessity. We proved that friendship has no borders.

The citizens of every country in the Balkans want to be a part of the European family of shared democratic values. The role of politicians is to make that happen. European integration has no alternative. It’s the only way to guarantee the peace, stability and prosperity of the region. However, recent events in the Republic of Macedonia have shown the need to reaffirm our support for the independence and territorial integrity of the country. The Bulgarian Chairmanship-in-Office of the SEECP will work for the adoption of a joint Declaration to reaffirm the principle of inviolability of national borders in the region.

We do not want conflicts and fights on the Balkans any more. We want peace, stability and reconciliation. We do not want borders to be moved any more. We want borders to fall, so that people and businesses are free to get together. We want the sovereign choice of the peoples on the Balkans to be respected. Great powers have been playing with the region for centuries. Now it’s our own responsibility! To get together, to link, to connect, to cooperate, to produce, to trade, to live together and not to fight! We put regional stability and regional reconciliation above all.

Ladies and gentlemen,

On July 1st the Republic of Bulgaria will accept the SEECP Chairmanship-in-Office. During our Chairmanship we will mark the 20th Anniversary of the Cooperation Process. For the past two decades, this initiative has become the leading political format for security and stability in the region.

Under the moto “SEECP – 20 years key to regional cooperation”, the Bulgarian Chairmanship has set an ambitious and result-oriented agenda for the next 12 months. We will focus on raising the visibility of the SEECP as a political format within EU institutions. SEECP-EU interaction is vital for the European and Euro-Atlantic integration of the Western Balkans. This will also enhance the effectiveness of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC). We need to further strengthen the partnership between the SEECP and the RCC, as well as between the other formats such as the EU Strategy for the Danube Region, the Adriatic-Ionian Strategy, and the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation.

Bulgaria attaches great importance to the parliamentary dimension of the SEECP. We rely on the support of the participating states for the proposal of the Bulgarian National Assembly to transform the acting Regional Secretariat for Parliamentary Cooperation in Sofia into a Permanent Secretariat of the new Parliamentary Assembly.

We will focus our efforts on the following priority areas:

First priority: Connectivity

The Balkans is situated at the crossroads of trade routes and flows. However, bad infrastructure has become a major obstacle for our economic development. Enhancing connectivity is a necessity in order to secure foreign investments in the region and open up new markets for our products both to the East and to the West.

We all want diversity and liberalization of our energy market. Let us connect our energy networks and guarantee competitive, not monopolistic prices for gas and electricity. Let’s build our regional energy and gas market. The more connected and diversified we are, the more investments will come to the region.

Improving the energy security of our region through diversifying the sources and routes of supply and connecting our gas and electricity networks should be a common priority. By building a regional Energy Exchange we would lay the foundation of a common energy market with competitive prices. My proposal is to start establishing a European Energy Union from here, from our region.

The EU is planning to invest almost 50 billion Euro in the region by 2020. This means that the funds for cross border cooperation in South East Europe will be significantly increased. We need to efficiently use those funds in order to improve and modernize regional infrastructure.

The program of Bulgaria’s Chairmanship-in-Office envisages a high-level forum on “Energy security and energy infrastructure in Southeastern Europe” in October 2015 and a high-level meeting on “Strengthening the regional infrastructure” in April 2016.

Second priority: Strengthening the fundamentals of democracy including media freedom, promoting access to internet and new technologies to support an active civil society in the region.

European integration has become the engine that brought about democratic reforms and major changes. Civil societies in the region are active. They demand political leaders to improve transparency and efficiency. It is our common desire to live in peace, in a democratic society under the rule of law and with efficient institutions. But our work there is not finished yet. This positive process could be reversed. Democracy cannot be installed. Democracy is a constant effort.

Third priority: Security and migration

The ongoing crises in the Middle East have caused an unprecedented migratory flow towards European borders. Pooling efforts to deal with this challenge will be pursued through creating an efficient regional policy based on solidarity with affected countries. An opportunity to exchange ideas and consolidate a common position will be provided at two special conferences on migration policy and demographic challenges.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The world is truly global and more interconnected than ever. The challenges we face are global too. Only through cooperation, respect for the rule of law and value-based policy we will be able to address those challenges. No nation, regardless of its political will and military power, can manage on its own. Cooperation and integration is no longer a matter of choice, but of necessity.

Thank you!