site.btaUPDATED Europe, US Focus on Ways to Help Boost Ukraine's Defence Capabilities Pronto - PM Denkov

Discussions in Europe and the US are mainly about how to help reinforce Ukraine's defence capabilities in the fastest way possible, Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov told journalists here on Sunday after returning from the Munich Security Conference, which focused on the future of Ukraine and transatlantic security. 

This was one of the conclusions of the conference. The other conclusions were that Europe is united in the fact that it needs to build up its defence capacity and that this needs to be done quickly and as a joint effort, as well as that  there is strong support in the United States for Ukraine and that this help needs to come quickly, he said.

"With regard to Bulgaria, what is striking is the clear awareness of the importance of our country's role on the southeastern flank of NATO - in the Black Sea, and what we did not expect, but turned out to attract attention, is the [upcoming government] rotation process - how it will be implemented, everyone said that they expect us to make it a success so that we can continue doing what we have been doing," added Denkov.  

"The rotation and this Government make sense if we implement our governance programme and follow our European path, with the development of institutions, the economy, the social development of the people and to reduce inequality," he added.

Responding to a question about whether he is ready for an option if his resignation is not accepted in Parliament, the Prime Minister recalled that, as he has always said, the agreements reached must be respected and he will resign on March 6. There is a procedure, the Government continues to perform its duties until the next decision is made, and if the resignation is not voted, the Government will continue to work as an outgoing cabainet, he added. 

Responding to a question on whether he insisted on taking post of Foreign Minister after the rotation, Prime Minister Denkov said that a solution acceptable to both sides should be found.  

"It became clear that there must be contact with the foreign partners and this contact can be easily realised if we simply swap places with [Foreign Minister Mariya] Gabriel [who will become a prime minister after the rotation]. The conversation about why this is a problem for the other side is still to take place, he added. 

Asked if Austria has committed to a specific date on which Bulgaria and Romania could be accepted into Schengen by land, Denkov said there is no way such a decision can be reached in one conversation during a forum. "We discussed with the Austrian Foreign Minister that we need to resume the negotiations, which stopped after December 30, in order to find a solution related to the date. I pointed out that border delays are a problem for every business and that the easiest way to eliminate this problem is to eliminate land borders," added Denkov. According to him, there is a chance to for Bulgaria get a date by the end of the year, but negotiations have to take place.