site.btaUPDATED President Radev: NATO Is Space of Shared Democratic Values

Addressing a national conference on 20 years Bulgaria in NATO, President Rumen Radev said that joining this most powerful military alliance of our time is in fact joining a space of shared democratic values, of freedom and peace, of respect for human rights and the rule of law. The forum was held here on Friday under the auspices of the outgoing government. It was organized by the Diplomatic Institute under the Foreign Minister, together with the Information Centre of the Ministry of Defence, the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria and the Sofia Security Forum.   

The President said that utmost efforts of generations of statespersons, politicians, diplomats, military and public figures have been made towards the country's membership in NATO. “Those of us who were on the operative side of all processes quickly understood that the process of full integration will be extremely difficult and continuous. We did not meet a series of extremely important criteria and standards despite having been accepted,” he commented. In his words, the phase of political integration concluded rather quickly thanks to the excellent work of Bulgaria’s politicians and diplomats, but the phase of military-political integration requires many efforts and resources, including to this day and to a much greater extent.

All member countries of NATO must join potential, efforts, and resources to develop military science, high tech, space and artificial intelligence, Radev went on to say. Without these things, contemporary operations are impossible, he added.

“We must do everything possible to put diplomatic efforts into a ceasefire, renewal of dialogue and peace-seeking, in accordance with the UN and international law principles,” Radev said regarding the war in Ukraine. He expressed disagreement with some leaders’ statements that it is time to send troops to Ukraine, be it on a bilateral basis. “We must assist Ukraine but we also must not allow dangerous escalation and inclusion of all of us in the conflict, which means a global clash with unpredictable consequences for humanity,” the Bulgarian head of State argued.

NATO membership today is above all a responsibility to one’s own security and that of one’s allies, and that means building adequate and contemporary defence capabilities, Radev told the forum.