site.btaBulgaria's EU and NATO Membership: A Correct Geopolitical Direction, a Conscious Choice of the People - Parliament Leader

Bulgaria's accession to the EU and NATO set a correct geopolitical direction of development for the country and was a conscious choice of its people, which proved that Bulgaria was quintessentially a part of the intellectual and cultural space of Europe and the democratic free world, National Assembly Chair Rossen Zhelyazkov said on Thursday. He was speaking at a conference on "Bulgaria-US-NATO: Allies in Two Centuries", hosted by the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria.

Zhelyazkov noted that NATO has been a mainstay of world order since World War II. He described it as the most successful military-political alliance in the world, which guarantees peace not only for its 31 member states with their 1 billion population. "NATO is a community of shared democratic values and a long-range vision of a common future," he said. He noted that the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria has defended, and continues to defend, these values with visionary passion, trying to get ahead of the future.

Zhelyazkov went on to say: "Freedom, peace and stability should not be taken for granted. They should be defended anytime, particularly in the radically worsened security situation in Europe after the Russian aggression in Ukraine. NATO is important for our security and prosperity more than ever before."

Bulgaria's NATO membership offers opportunities for cooperation with partner countries sharing common interests. The Western Balkans and the Black Sea region are particularly important to Bulgaria, according to Zhelyazkov. "Russia, along with China and some non-state entities, is carrying out malicious hybrid cyber activities, disinformation campaigns. Growing tensions and outstanding problems in the Western Balkans present a serious security challenge to NATO," he commented.