site.btaPresident Radev Holds Working Meeting with EU Ambassadors, EU Prospects of Western Balkans Is Among Issues on the Agenda
ESD 19:44:02 08-02-2022
LN1941ES.130
130 POLITICS - PRESIDENT - AMBASSADORS - REMARKS
President Radev Holds Working Meeting
with EU Ambassadors, EU Prospects
of Western Balkans Is Among Issues on the Agenda
Sofia, February 8 (BTA) - Issues from Europe's agenda were discussed here Tuesday at a working meeting of President Rumen Radev with the ambassadors of the EU member states and Switzerland. The European prospects of the Western Balkan countries was among the issues and the President said that Bulgaria is working actively towards and supports these prospects because it is the surest way to security, stability and economic progress across the Balkans.
"This is why our country expects tangible results both in the fields of connectivity and the economy, and with regard to the open issues in relations with North Macedonia," Radev said. He mentioned as examples of open issues the rights of people with Bulgarian self-awareness in North Macedonia and hate speech against Bulgaria. "Ignoring those will slow down the progress [of Skopje] towards EU integration," said the President.
He agrees that the recent energizing of bilateral dialogue is a good sign. "But what Bulgaria expects is not new assurances: it expects constitutional guarantees that the rights of Macedonian Bulgarians will be respected by adding them to the preamble of the Constitution of North Macedonia along with the other parts of peoples."
The President believes that that should happen before Skopje opens EU accession talks.
The Bulgarian head of State praised the priorities of the French Presidency of the EU.
He also said that NATO is the backbone of European security "but the question remains about the deficit in the EU defence capabilities and these are clearly seen during crises". He reiterated his call for closer integration of research and the European defence industry so as to optimize defence costs and increase the contribution of the EU countries to collective security.
Radev gave a high mark to the partnership among the EU countries in defence, including the joint exercises and air policing in Bulgaria amid the escalation of tensions over Ukraine. LN/
//
LN1941ES.130
130 POLITICS - PRESIDENT - AMBASSADORS - REMARKS
President Radev Holds Working Meeting
with EU Ambassadors, EU Prospects
of Western Balkans Is Among Issues on the Agenda
Sofia, February 8 (BTA) - Issues from Europe's agenda were discussed here Tuesday at a working meeting of President Rumen Radev with the ambassadors of the EU member states and Switzerland. The European prospects of the Western Balkan countries was among the issues and the President said that Bulgaria is working actively towards and supports these prospects because it is the surest way to security, stability and economic progress across the Balkans.
"This is why our country expects tangible results both in the fields of connectivity and the economy, and with regard to the open issues in relations with North Macedonia," Radev said. He mentioned as examples of open issues the rights of people with Bulgarian self-awareness in North Macedonia and hate speech against Bulgaria. "Ignoring those will slow down the progress [of Skopje] towards EU integration," said the President.
He agrees that the recent energizing of bilateral dialogue is a good sign. "But what Bulgaria expects is not new assurances: it expects constitutional guarantees that the rights of Macedonian Bulgarians will be respected by adding them to the preamble of the Constitution of North Macedonia along with the other parts of peoples."
The President believes that that should happen before Skopje opens EU accession talks.
The Bulgarian head of State praised the priorities of the French Presidency of the EU.
He also said that NATO is the backbone of European security "but the question remains about the deficit in the EU defence capabilities and these are clearly seen during crises". He reiterated his call for closer integration of research and the European defence industry so as to optimize defence costs and increase the contribution of the EU countries to collective security.
Radev gave a high mark to the partnership among the EU countries in defence, including the joint exercises and air policing in Bulgaria amid the escalation of tensions over Ukraine. LN/
//
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