site.btaMEP Eva Maydell: If We Have Stable Government, Bulgaria Could Be on Tech Companies’ Map

"If we have a stable government with clear goals, we can use not only the contacts but also the influence we have to put Bulgaria on the map of technology companies," MEP Eva Maydell (GERB-European People's Party) told BTA in an interview here on Thursday. She commented on the future of the EU, the interaction with other Bulgarian MEPs and the political situation in Bulgaria.

What will be Bulgaria's place in the European Union in the next five years?

Eva Maydell: It is important for us, being a delegation of GERB-UDF delegation, that our composition has remained almost unchanged. We have already gained enough experience, enough contacts to be able to defend the important priorities for Bulgaria.

The EU and the European institutions are renewed every five years. This is also happening in the Bulgarian delegation. In order to defend these important priorities for our country, first of all, we need a stable government. If we have a government with clear priorities, with clear commitments that it can make on European issues, only then can we, as MEPs, achieve results.

It must be clear that one MEP alone cannot make these changes. The European Parliament consists of over 700 Members. That is why the most important thing for a group, such as GERB-UDF, is to build bridges, to persuade its fellow Members and to look for live issues for our country.

What changes do you expect in the EU itself?

What we see is that the EU is not making sharp turns. This gives more predictability and stability to Member States. At the same time, in a period of crises - economic and financial, whether it is COVID, whether it is the war in Ukraine, we are very quickly able to readjust our policies. That is why the important issues now are also about how to strengthen our economy, our industry and, on the other hand, our defence capabilities.

Do you expect the Bulgarian political situation to influence the interaction between Bulgarian MEPs?

The last three years have not helped Bulgaria to defend its European goals and priorities. If we did not have this political instability and the inability to have political dialogue in any form, today we would be members of the euro area, a full member of Schengen - as Croatia is.

Three years ago, the government had clear priorities and they could have been continued. For me, there is nothing more important than having a stable government, with political faces, with people who can make commitments and are ready to have a political conversation. Only then, can we convince our colleagues. Decisions like Schengen are not just about removing borders, it is also about political trust from other countries.

Do you believe that the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU can really influence the current European policy on Ukraine?

We have seen in recent weeks that [Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor] Orban visited Russia, but he also visited Ukraine. We have seen that in recent years [Russian President Vladimir] Putin has been trying to make sure that Europe is not united. But what has happened is that Finland and Sweden have joined NATO and with that we have a much closer NATO border with Russia. It so happened that Europe has increased its defence spending. That was absolutely unthinkable ten years ago. These are just some of the many examples. All of these actions by Putin that he thought would divide us, are uniting us and bringing us closer. Therefore, any attempts that Orban might have in the same direction lead to the exact opposite.

So far in the European Parliament, you have worked on technology-related matters. Will you continue in this direction?

Of course, the subject is even more on the agenda in the European institutions. We will continue the work. I would like this topic to have a greater impact in our country. Just a few days ago, we saw that one of the big technology companies is going to open a data centre in Romania. Two and a half years ago, another company opened a huge office in Greece. If we have a stable government with clear objectives, we can use not only the contacts we have, but also the influence we have, to put Bulgaria on the map of these technology companies.