Bulgarian President Calls for Starting New Engines of EU Integration

A handout picture provided by the European Parliament on 08 June 2016 shows President of Bulgaria Rosen Plevneliev (C) during his formal address to the Plenary at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, 08 June 2016. Photo: EPA

In his address to the European Parliament delivered on Wednesday, Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev called for starting new engines of European integration.

According to Plevneliev, the cure to the ills of the EU lies in more rule of law, more synergies and more integration.

The Bulgarian president identified integration as the only weapon available for achieving peace, security and human development. In his opinion, erecting borders is a tempting, but temporary and unsustainable solution.

Plevneliev condemned the efforts of Russia to destabilise the EU and erode trust in the European project.

He identified the tense relations between the EU and Russia as having entered a new phase of development labelled by him as “Cold Peace time”.

This period was characterised by renewal of confrontations and methods from the time of the Cold War – propaganda wars, cyber attacks, proxy and hybrid warfare.

The Bulgarian president criticised Moscow for initiating a “vast propaganda machine that spreads messages of mistrust”.

Turning to the conflict in Ukraine, he expressed a firm stance that “Crimea is Ukraine and Ukraine is Europe”, reiterating that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries in Europe should be respected.

He called on Europe to “dispel the doubts of Europeans and reassure them” by starting new engines of integration such as enlargement, more efficient and coordinated common European foreign, defence and security policy, the European Energy Union, the Single Digital Market, the EU Capital Markets Union.

Plevneliev also urged for establishing new dynamic and open economic model of Europe as in his opinion “Europe of the future is a Europe of entrepreneurs, of technology and innovation”.

European Parliament President Martin Schulz thanked Plevneliev for his “brave speech”, saying that he shares his views. Following his speech, Plevneliev participated in joint press conference with Schulz.

The Bulgarian president also held a meeting  with the chairperson of the group of the European People's Party in the European Parliament Manfred Weber.

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