site.btaEC Vice-President Georgieva: "We Should Stop with the Lies - They Divert Public's Attention from Important Topics"

EC Vice-President Georgieva: "We Should Stop with the Lies - They Divert Public's Attention from Important Topics"

Brussels, April 21 (BTA Correspondent Nikolay Jeliazkov) - In an interview for BTA, European Commission Vice-President Kristalina Georgieva comments on her meetings with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington last week, the crises in Europe, the speculations with her name, and Bulgarian media allegations that she was affiliated with the communist-era State Security. In Georgieva's words, the lies should be brought to an end because they divert the public's attention from important topics.

Refugee Crisis

Asked about the common view on the issues discussed in Washington last week - the conflicts around the globe, the migration waves and their effect on economy, Georgieva says that this year the World Bank and IMF meetings were dominated by a certain concern over the world economy's state and prospects, and to a very large extent by the topic of migration and refugees. "What I registered is that the understanding that this is not a European crisis but a global problem, is finally starting to make its way," she notes.

Georieva goes on to say that in all the meetings she held in Washington, three key topics were discussed: the root causes of the crisis; the handling of the wave of refugees and economic immigrants, with more attention having to be paid to the 1.8 million people already in Europe, as well as to the remaining 58 millions who have not come yet; and the importance of integration in relation to extremism in Europe.

Regarding the first topic, Georgieva says that last week the data on countries' contribution to development were presented. "I was very proud of Europe because in 2015 we achieved a record of 60 billion euro. This is by 15 per cent more compared to the sum Europe gave in 2014. The concern that we will redirect resources to the refugees in Europe and will take from the places they are running from, was not justified. Yes, we invest money in the problem in Europe - around 6 to 7 billion euro - but the total development aid grew by 4 billion euro," she explains.

Regarding the wave of refugees and economic immigrants, the EC Vice-President says they already have the elements needed for tackling this problem. "Firstly, we should create a common migration policy and a policy on accepting refugees, instead of having 28 different policies and practices. Secondly, it is very important to strengthen and protect the external borders. We have a proposal from the European Commission for a new border and coast control agency, and a common understanding for heightened attention to this topic," Georgieva says. Thirdly, action should be taken against human trafficking, which is a criminal business generating funding similarly to drug trade. It is very likely that part of this funding goes to radicalisation. "Attacking this model for us in Europe means partnership with others, just like we are doing through the EU-Turkey agreement, but it also means working actively on the creation of legal ways for people to come to Europe, to be able to register, to apply for a refugee status from Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, instead of come here illegally," the EC Vice-President underscores.

In her words, Europeans do not just give more money but also make sure it is put to better use. Here is where her work as Co-Chair of the UN High-Level Panel on Humanitarian Financing comes in, Georgieva notes. "We direct a lot of our funding towards education, so that Syrian children can go to school, and towards the creation of jobs, so that we can trade with these countries. We give them greater access to our markets if they integrate the refugees in their economy," she says.

"It is important to remind ourselves that today the job market in the developed European countries, the US and Canada needs more people, with a greater number of and more diverse skills that those we produce in our countries," she goes on to say. "We should take into account that the movement of people is not likely to stop and if does, the movement of goods and capitals will stop as well," she adds. In her words, when a country closes itself within its national borders and when nationalism is at the basis of politics, this destroys the foundations of what makes Europe and the world prosperous nowadays.

"When we ask ourselves whether each country should save itself on its own or we need a European solution, two-thirds of Europeans say that this problem cannot be solved country by country. Even the richest state needs a common solution. In the so-called new EU Member States, we have far fewer traditions to live with people who are different in terms of ethnicity, religion and origin than the 'old' countries in the EU," Georgieva says.

Asked whether enough money is available for everything - protection of the external borders, and acceptance and accommodation of refugees, Georgieva says that the current EU budget mobilizes the resources which considerably relieves the burden on the Member States.

"Last year we started with 4.5 billion euro for migration in Europe and aid to countries such as Lebanon and Jordan. We have now reached 10.5 billion euro, or more than twice as much. This is achieved by using all possible reserves but also by rechanelling finances. The reserves and the flexibility of the budget are not infinite," Georgieva says.

The EC Vice-President praises the creation of an instrument for aid within the EU. "Already in my previous term I said that it was not normal to be able to aid Moldova but not Romania, Turkey but not Bulgaria. The logic ran that the EU countries were rich enough to cope. However, the humanitarian crises proved so serious and risky that the need for such an instrument was apparent. We created the tool, and in 2016 it has 300 million euro, with 200 million euro each for the next two years. Now we can help Greece where there are 50,000 migrants. If a large-scale disaster occurs anywhere in Europe, now we can help," Georgieva says.

The EC Vice-President stresses the importance of being able to quickly mobilize resources for unexpected events. The next multi-annual budget of the EU will have more leeway for flexible reaction to surprise events, she says.

Media Allegations

Dwelling on the topics that capture the public attention in Bulgaria Georgieva says she would not like to engage people with her personality. "There are much more important topics that must be addressed and that are worthy of our attention. But after the lies about my name spilled over into a national medium, I felt a duty to tell the truth to my fellow country people and to close the topic once and for all." [Editor's note: Media publications appeared alleging that Georgieva's given name had been Stalina, and she had it changed to Kristalina. In response, Georgieva was forced to publish her birth certificate thus proving that the allegation was untrue.]

Commenting on an allegation that she had connections to the communist-era State Security, Georgieva adamantly says: "I never had connections to the State Security, I was never recruited by the State Security or anyone else. This is a lie. When I was invited to come to Bulgaria as a candidate for European commissioner in 2010, keeping in mind the sensitivity among the public, I asked for this to be checked. GERB did this back then and asked the secret police files committee [the Committee on Disclosure of Documents and Announcing Bulgarian Citizens' Affiliation to State Security and the Intelligence Services of the Bulgarian People's Army] to check me. The result was exactly what I was expecting - I don't and never had connections to the State Security. I would like to once again state that we must stop such lies, because they divert the public's attention from important topics for Bulgaria, Europe and the world," she notes.

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Approached for a comment, the head of the secret police files committee, Evtim Kostadinov, told BTA that Kristalina Georgieva has been checked twice already for affiliations with the State Security. The first time she was checked was back in 2010 in her capacity as a European commissioner candidate, when no documents establishing her affiliation with the State Security and Bulgarian People's Army's intelligence services were established. The second time Georgieva was subjected to a check was this February at her own request. Kostadinov informed her that the Committee has not established any affiliations this time either.