site.btaPresident Radev: Foreign Policy Should Not Be Used as Excuse for Inaction at Home

Sofia, July 3 (BTA) - President Rumen Radev believes foreign policy should not be used as an excuse for inaction on crucial matters for Bulgarian society. "The European idea cannot be partisanized or privatized," Radev told a conference in Sofia on Tuesday. The conference was organized by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and the Economics and International Relations Institute to discuss the results of the first ever Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union (January-June 2018).

Radev said: "The EU Presidency was used systematically for domestic publicity purposes at a time when protests abounded but the government remained unresponsive. It became an alibi for indifference and lack of concern for these problems, and even the discontent of the citizens was presented as attempts to undermine the EU Presidency. This is unacceptable. This is the surest way to shake the Bulgarians' confidence in the European idea."

According to Radev, the Bulgarian EU Presidency focused exclusively on foreign policy, with the Western Balkans as its main highlight, while overlooking important and potentially explosive developments in Bulgaria. "This kind of conduct can lead to paralysis of the institutions," he said.

Acknowledging that the Western Balkans were undoubtedly an important priority, Radev noted that the subject was pursued consistently by the Bulgarian EU Presidency but with time it was overshadowed by the question about the future of united Europe. He also singled out the migrant issue which has proven very divisive for the bloc, endangering its unity and exposing a number of institutional flaws.

"While I do not underestimate the achievement of closing 78 dossiers during our EU Presidency, this is just administrative statistics. The race between the rotating presidencies to mechanically close down as many dossiers as possible can lead to the closedown of the EU itself," Radev warned.

From a regional perspective, it was a mistake that the EU Strategy for the Danube Region did not figure more prominently among the priorities, he said.

Discussing security and stability in Europe, Radev said there were developments to which the Bulgarian EU Presidency did not try to respond. One of these developments was the growing economic tension between the United States and Europe. "Bulgaria failed to categorically raise the question of the future of European security, particularly the European defence capacity," he argued.

He also raised questions about the relations between Kosovo and Serbia, the situation with Macedonia and the real worth of the Sofia declaration of the EU-Western Balkans Summit. Radev is worried that Bulgaria has accepted the name North Macedonia unquestioningly. "Bulgaria and Macedonia are the closest countries in the Balkans and we should not create prerequisites for new artificial division between our two countries," he said.

"One of the greatest achievements of our EU Presidency, besides the fact that it brought the European focus back on the Western Balkans, was that our administration acquired knowledge about the mechanisms for the EU's functioning and decision-making," Radev said. But then he added: "Bulgaria reinforced its position as the most peripheral country in the EU both in terms of structures and in terms of the main debate."

"Logistically, our administration solved the problems and lived up to its responsibilities. We also received the usual compliments for any EU presidency but they should not mislead us. The state of the Union is such that Brussels can afford nothing but positive self-assessments," he said.