site.btaEU Commissioner Urpilainen: Bulgaria Provided EUR 93 Mln for Development Programmes in 2023

Bulgaria has been a development cooperation provider since joining the EU. In 2023, the country provided EUR 93 million through the general EU budget, European Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen said in a written interview for BTA's Lyubomir Martinov. This accounts for 0,6% of the Official Development Aid (ODA) that EU Member States channelled through the EU in 2023, she added.

Urpilainen gave the interview on the eve of a working visit to Bulgaria on Tuesday. She is scheduled to meet with caretaker Foreign Minister Ivan Kondov, as well as representatives of businesses, NGOs and youth organizations. Among the expected topics of discussion will be the geopolitical situation and Bulgaria's participation in the implementation of the EU's Global Gateway investment strategy.

She told BTA that Bulgaria's impact could be greater than its financial contribution. "I know that Bulgaria concentrates its efforts to the Western Balkans and Eastern Partnership countries, given your extensive expertise achieved during the accession process. Global Gateway is being rolled out also in these regions," the Finnish Commissioner said in the email interview on the eve of her visit.

"Global Gateway is the EU positive offer to partners, our investment strategy with the objective to mobilise up to EUR 300 billion worth public and private investments to sustainable infrastructure and human development in Global South," Urpilainen explained. The programme puts special emphasis on local value creation and building mutually beneficial partnerships, including in industrialisation and job creation, she added. Urpilainen stressed that this is not a European alternative to One Belt, One Road, China's programme to finance infrastructure and other development projects in Asia and Africa.

Following is the full text of the interview.

1. What is the purpose of your visit to Bulgaria? What do you expect from it?

I have been to your beautiful country before, many years ago, and was able to witness the great Bulgarian hospitality. As a Commissioner, I have made it my mission to visit all the 27 Member States during the mandate, so now it is time to come back in this role. I am fully aware of the complex political situation in Bulgaria nowadays. However, considering your country’s geostrategic location, I look forward to discussing with your authorities and civil society the current geopolitical context and challenges that Bulgaria and the EU face. 

My other objective is to exchange with decisionmakers, private sector and civil society on Bulgaria’s involvement in the implementation of the EU’s Global Gateway investment strategy. I want to increase awareness of the opportunities offered by the strategy, including to Bulgarian companies. I hope to learn about Bulgarian stakeholders’ priorities and expectations towards the EU’s cooperation with the so-called Global South, and to get a better understanding of sectors where Bulgarian actors are already active in developing markets.

2. How much does Bulgaria contribute to the EU's international development programmes?

Bulgaria has been a development cooperation provider since joining the EU. In 2023, Bulgaria provided EUR 93 million through the general EU budget. It accounts for 0,6% of the Official Development Aid (ODA) that EU Member States channelled through the EU in 2023.

But Bulgaria’s impact can be bigger than its financial contribution. In my meetings with the Member States, I encourage Member States to play to their strengths. Over the five past years, there has been a decisive effort to increase coordination between the Commission, Member States and European development finance institutions in order to come up with more impactful, large-scale initiatives and transformational projects. We work more as a team – as Team Europe. 

I would like see Bulgaria to play an active role in this team. I know that Bulgaria concentrates its efforts to the Western Balkans and Eastern Partnership countries, given your extensive expertise achieved during the accession process. Global Gateway is being rolled out also in these regions.

3. Tell us a bit more about the Global Gateway project. How would European citizens benefit from investing EUR 300 billion of their tax money in foreign countries?

Global Gateway is the EU positive offer to partners, our investment strategy with the objective to mobilise up to EUR 300 billion worth public and private investments to sustainable infrastructure and human development in Global South. We are not using €300 billion of taxpayer’s money. It is the sum we aim to leverage by pooling contributions from the EU budget, Member States, and financing institutions. Moreover, we are using innovative financial tools, like guarantees, to leverage and incentivise private investments as well. 

With Global Gateway, we put special emphasis on local value addition and building mutually beneficial partnerships. Our flagship projects benefit the development objectives of our partner countries, their industrialisation and job creation. In my opinion, supporting sustainable development, growth and stability in partner countries is very much in the interests of us Europeans. We work with partners to tackle common cross border challenges – take for example climate change, health threats and root causes of migration. These efforts would also help limit irregular migration.

Europe also stands to benefit from Global Gateway. Our companies and industries have the innovations and knowhow that these countries so desperately need for their green and digital transitions. Improving their infrastructure and overall regulatory frameworks can support our own strategic autonomy and policy objectives. Cooperation on critical raw materials, which Europe needs to import, is a very concrete example of this. To date, we have signed 14 strategic partnerships on sustainable raw materials value chains with partner countries. 

4. Does this programme compete with the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative?

I would not say that that Global Gateway competes with Chinese Belt and Road Initiative. Rather, Global Gateway is the EU’s positive partnership offer to countries in the Global South. It is anchored in European values and abides by the highest social and environmental standards. 

Other actors, like China, have put forward their own offers, as well as their narratives. Partner countries in the Global South are free to choose with whom they work. The development needs especially in Africa are huge and I fully understand countries welcoming all the investments they can get, as long as the longer-term sustainability of those investments is not compromised. 

Many debt-ridden African countries have become critical towards the Chinese model, which in some cases has created and deepened unwanted dependencies. Only last week, at the FOCAC (Forum on China–Africa Cooperation) Summit, the issue of debt cancellations was not mentioned, even though it has featured at earlier Summits and has been a consistent request from the African side.

5. European countries are supposedly most interested in funding development initiatives in the Middle East and Africa in order to stem the waves of illegal migration. But why are we spending money on countries as far away as Latin America or the Pacific region?

As mentioned, Europe has plenty of reasons to be active in and engage with partner countries – near and far. In today’s interconnected world, we cannot turn inwards and imagine that what happens in other parts of the world does not impact us. Conflicts and crises spill over, and we need multilateral cooperation to manage them. The COVID-19 pandemic was a powerful reminder of this. And Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is another example. Even though the war is fought in Europe, it has disrupted international value chains of goods and affected the daily lives of people in other continents as well.