Bulgarian Minister: EU Sanctions against Russia Still Not Unavoidable

Bulgaria will be among the countries wost affected by EU sanctions against Russia, according to Foreign Minister Kristian Vigenin.

In a Friday interview for the morning broadcast of TV7, he insisted that the European Union and Russia had to make another serious attempt to return to the negotiating table.

"Our goal is to solve the crisis in Ukraine by avoiding sanctions," Vigenin declared, as cited by Sega daily.

Bulgaria's Foreign Minister claimed that it was illogical to press for sanctions, taking into account that EU countries would be among the hardest hit.

"Some EU Member States will be less affected, while others, including Bulgaria, will be more seriously affected," Vigenin declared.

Bulgaria's Foreign Minister expressed skepticism about the results of such measures.

"Imposing sanctions is not an end in itself. The question is whether they will achieve any results. Is it achievable to solve the problem in Ukraine with hefty economic sanctions? I am not optimistic about the outcome," he noted.

Vigenin was adamant that Bulgaria would demand compensations in the case of sanctions.

"Naturally, we will seek compensations if the scenario involving sanctions starts to unfold. We have already made an indicative analysis of the possible losses, taking into account the economic ties between Bulgaria and Russia," Vigenin said, specifying that Bulgaria was still unaware of Moscow's response to such type of measures.

Vigenin said that the compensations could be financial or Bulgaria could ask for a transitional period of six months to one year for the imposition of the sanctions.

He reminded of the case with Greece, which was also given a transitional period in 2012 to alleviate the impact of the sanctions against Iran, a major exporter of crude oil to Greece.

"We have not reached a stage where the sanctions are unavoidable. Our goal is to solve the matter, at the same time avoiding sanctions," Bulgaria's Foreign Minister stated.

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