site.btaPrime Minister Denkov Speaks on BBC's "Hard Talk"

Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov was a guest on BBC's "Hard Talk" with host Stephen Sackur. The interview touched upon a broad range of topics, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the lessons for Bulgaria and the EU have learned from it, the upcoming rotation of power in Bulgaria and the future of the government, democracy in Bulgaria, Schengen, and the euro.

Asked whether Europe and Bulgaria have learned the right lessons from the two year war in Ukraine, Denkov said that there have been very big changes in Europe and in Bulgaria in particular. He said that in these two years Bulgaria has completely cut its dependence on Russian oil, Russian gas, nuclear fuel, and has increased its defence budget to over 2%. He added that all the countries in Europe s had to change rapidly and have taken the steps that are necessary to start that process, but it will take some time to get to where they want to be.

Asked about pro-Russian sentiments among Bulgarians, Denkov pointed to the historical and cultural ties that Bulgaria has had with Russia for many years, adding that that the war started by Russia against Ukraine and the invasion changed attitudes quite considerably because people have come to realized that Bulgaria could also become a victim of some kind of aggression. Both national and European polls show that Bulgaria's attitude has changed significantly in these two years.

Asked about the future of the ruling coalition the Prime Minister said that the fact that this government was formed, initially under different conditions, changing the Constitution on the basis of this majority, which is a two-thirds majority in Parliament, and having made quite significant changes in the judiciary show that there is a solid basis for this government to continue in the future.