site.btaPresident Radev Expects Difficult Talks on Financial Matters with London

President Radev Expects Difficult Talks on Financial Matters with London

Brussels, April 29 (BTA correspondent Nikolay Jeliazkov) - President Rumen Radev Saturday said financial matters could be the hardest part of the future talks on the UK's withdrawal from the EU.

Radev told Bulgarian reporters after participating in the Extraordinary European Council: "Today was an important day, we adopted the political guidelines for the Brexit negotiations. This will not be an easy process at all, it will be fraught with problems. The bottom line is that the EU leaders rallied around common goals: to ensure that the rights of citizens, businesses, the individual countries and the EU as a whole are protected. The core principles, the approach to the talks and the priorities were adopted."

If this process is to be successful, the principles of equality, transparency and unity should be clear from now, said Radev. "We concurred that we would negotiate from a unified position," he added.

A directive laying down the criteria, the stages of the talks and the objectives at each stage will be adopted on May 22. Hopefully, the first stage will be completed in October, Radev said. It is during Bulgaria's Presidency of the EU Council in 2018 that [the outcome of] the second stage will be decided. The talks are to be completed in October 2018, so that after ratification, the UK's withdrawal will become a fact by March 29, 2019.

Radev also noted that the financial aspect of the negotiations would be the most complicated and that he expected serious problems. It all depends on whether the UK will honour its sizable commitments under the Multiannual Financial Framework 2014-2020 and after 2020. "We know that the UK's economy contributes a large portion of the EU's budget," Radev said, adding that a possible increase in Bulgaria's annual contribution to that budget would depend on the decision about the UK's obligations.

The EU leaders will try to guarantee the rights of all people who have gone to the UK to live, work and study under one set of rules. "I cannot promise we will succeed but we will do our best," the Bulgarian President said.

It is crucial to make this process predictable, to limit the damaging effects, and make sure those people are clear about their status. This applies to Britons in Bulgaria as well. It is paramount to secure the rights of some 4.5 million EU and British citizens living abroad, he said.

On Saturday, President Radev talked about Macedonia with European Council President Donald Tusk and with Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

Radev said they held detailed talks. "We discussed the situation in Macedonia very carefully. It is alarming," he said. "I have been assured that the question of Macedonia will be considered very seriously. I expect our view - that the EU should help to resume dialogue between the parties, between the institutions - to be supported here. This will be of the utmost importance for preserving security in the region," the Bulgarian President said.