site.btaBulgarian President at Arraiolos Group Meeting in Germany

Bulgarian President at Arraiolos Group Meeting in Germany

Erfurt/Sofia, September 21 (BTA) - President Rosen Plevneliev is among the participants in the 11th meeting of the heads of state of the Arraiolos Group. Addressing the forum, he said that the European Union needs a new dose of confidence to unite the will of the EUropean countries for overcoming "the most serious chain of crises in the recent years", the Presidential Press Secretariat said Monday.

The issue of the migrant crisis was not in the initial agenda of the meeting but now it is expected to be among the highlights of the forum held in the Wartburg Castle and in Erfurt, Germany, with the participation of the heads of state of Austria, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Portugal and Slovenia.

Plevneliev said that the meeting is taking place at a decisive moment for the EU. "United Europe needs ideas to move it forward," he added.

He argued that Europe is experiencing a crisis of identity and a crisis of values. "When we are sealing the borders for people seeking shelter from the worst of wars the recent years have seen, when we are playing pass-the-parcel and violating established rules. In some member states the refugees are not even registers to allow everybody to play as it suits him. We have to be aware that the EU needs to take measures," the Bulgarian Head of State said.

He also commented that the discussion on cohesion in Europe, held during the first panel of the meeting, is a clear sign that the European leaders see the need for more cohesion and re-confirming the founding principle on which the EU was built.

The crisis in Ukraine, the financial woes of Greece and the unprecedented migration wave once again make it necessary for the European countries to look at their identity and at what connects them, Plevneliev said. "Today we will exchange ideas about how to increase cohesion among the countries. Whatever formats there are, all of us understand that the only weapon we have to make sure there will never be a war in Europe, is integration."

He warned that the EU member states are threatened with isolation and instability if they prove unable to overcome crises as a single community.

He reiterated his call for a stronger commitment to education as the most effective means of ensuring high quality of life of the next generation.