Bulgarian PM 'Turns' North Korea into 'Strategic Partner' of EU

Bulgarian PM Borisov (right) during the National Security Council meeting on Friday. Photo by BGNES

North Korea became briefly a "strategic partner" of the EU Friday afternoon because of a slip of the tongue of the Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.

Speaking after Friday's meeting of the Bulgarian National Security Council, Borisov mistakenly mentioned North Korea instead of South Korea when explaining that during its summit on Thursday, the EU Council has defined the Union's strategic partners around the world.

"In addition to the traditional USA, first of all, China, Russia, Ukraine, Brazil, India, North Korea, and, last but not least, Pakistan," Borisov declared.

However, North Korea did not enjoy its new privileged status for too long. After those present reacted with a quiet surprise, Borisov corrected himself only seconds later by saying, "My mistake," even though he did mention explicitly what the mistake was as he did not say which one of the EU partners he had gotten wrong.

According to the record from Friday's meeting of the National Security Council released subsequently, the Prime Minister mentioned South Korea; the slip of tongue mistake about North Korea is not reflected at all in the document.

Borisov's comment about the strategic partners of the EU was made in order to point out that Bulgaria coordinated its security policies with those of the Union.

"We are working extremely actively in order to synchronize our national security with the new strategies of the EU," he stated.

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