site.btaParliamentary Foreign Policy Committee Chair: Brexit Will Not Have Positive Effect on Bulgaria

Parliamentary Foreign Policy Committee Chair: Brexit Will Not Have Positive Effect on Bulgaria

Sofia, June 24 (BTA) - Commenting on the results of Thursday's referendum in the UK, parliamentary Foreign Policy Committee Chair Dzhema Grozdanova (GERB) told journalists that the effect of the country's exit from the EU (the so-called Brexit) will not be positive in all spheres - economy, politics, security - for Bulgaria, just like it will not be for all small and new Member States. According to her, the impact of Brexit is related mainly to the topic of security.

In her words, the UK is a big country, it stands at the basis of all decisions taken in the EU, and all this will lead to various decisions and directions. "A month ago, Jean-Claude Juncker said very accurately  that the national governments should take a greater number of decisions, the EU overdid it," she said. However, there is no contradiction between sovereignty and unity in the Union, Grozdanova added.

According to her, Brexit will also be a problem for the UK itself.

Asked about the effect of Brexit on Bulgarians living in the UK, Grozdanova said that the exit from the EU is a long process which will take between 2 and 3 years. In her words, it is still unclear even at the high EU level how exactly the UK will leave the Union.
 
According to Grozdanova, a domino effect could be expected: other Member States could follow the British example. Bulgaria will probably not raise the issue of leaving the EU because it is still a new member and Euroscepticism is not strong in this country yet.

Commenting on UK voters' decision to leave the EU, political expert Dimiter Ganev told BTA that a wave of referendums in Europe should not be expected. In his words, everyone will be observing very carefully the processes developing in the UK from this point onwards, and everyone will take this into account.

According to Ganev, Brexit is not the beginning of the end for the EU, which will continue to exist as an organization. However, the issue of Scotland's independence will be raised again and, given the new situation, a possible second referendum on independence would have predictable results. The situation with Northern Ireland will also become complicated, he forecast. In his opinion, Brexit will affect the United Kingdom's positions on the geopolitical scene, its political influence and its economy.

Ganev went on to say that if the UK leaves the European Single Market, Bulgaria will not be directly affected because the United Kingdom is not even in its top ten trade partners. Still, Brexit will lead to an economic shock in the whole of Europe which could have a negative impact on Bulgaria.

Later on Friday, Bulgarian MEPs are expected to give a news conference on the results of the British referendum and the possible consequences for the EU and Bulgaria.