Bulgarian PM Supports the Creation of a European Army

GIS

Kiril Petkov defended the idea of ​​creating a European army.

“In order for a person to make independent decisions, he must have independent capacity and independent resource. From this point of view, I think President Macron has a rather strong position in this direction, for Europe to have its own choice, not to be a consumer of security, but to be a creator of security”, said Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov in the program on Darik Radio.

With these words, Petkov defended the thesis of the French president, who claims that there should be a European army. However, the prime minister said that there should not be many parallel unions, because people and technology are one. He was adamant that if such an army is created, it must build on EU-NATO relations, not compete with the Alliance.

North Macedonia

Kiril Petkov also commented on the relations between Sofia and Skopje. According to him, the countries of the Balkans should stop thinking only nationally, but look regionally. He added that the Balkan countries have a large market, such as France.

“We are changing the whole framework of the dialogue. When you focus only on the problems, first you miss all the opportunities and second - the problems become unsolvable.”

He rejected the thesis that during his talks with his Macedonian counterpart Dimitar Kovachevski, history had been left in the background and explained that the memoranda signed and the agreement reached on transport connectivity and economic co-operation would boost dialogue.

Osmani: North Macedonia will Never Agree that "We are One People in Two Countries"

Petkov said he had urged the historical commission to negotiate the inclusion in the textbooks of historical figures for whom Skopje and Sofia have already reached an agreement. He explained that the approach to complete change of Macedonian textbooks will not work at once and added that since reaching an agreement with North Macedonia on all topics and respectively - the subsequent decision of Bulgaria to let Skopje start EU membership talks, it will need at least another 15 years until the country's actual accession to the union. According to him, during these years the two nations will have time to finally get along.

“All groups that do not mention the word 'good neighborliness' are enemies of this process.” - so he answered the question who is interfering with the negotiations with Skopje.

NATO, Russia and Ukraine

The prime minister said he saw Russia's request to withdraw NATO forces from Bulgaria and Romania as “quite strange”.

Petkov was adamant that the party is an equal ally of the Alliance and reiterated that Bulgaria will begin a gradual modernization of the army.

Anti-epidemic measures

The prime minister said anti-epidemic measures guarantee a functioning economy. According to him, if there were a higher number of vaccinated in Bulgaria today, some of the measures would be dropped.

“If you get vaccinated today, you are voting not to close schools and kindergartens tomorrow.”

Petkov added that the public should understand that the vaccine does not protect against infection, but guarantees that the vaccinated person will not end up in an intensive care unit.

Judicial reform

Kiril Petkov commented that in order for there to be judicial reform, there must be a real anti-corruption commission.

According to him, it is the current Anti-Corruption Commission that should consider the persons sanctioned under the “Magnitsky Act”. He added that the United States has seen the problems  8,000 km. away from us and it is high time for Bulgaria to see them.

The change of the management of Bulgargaz

“The moratorium on the price of electricity should be lifted when the EWRC has new people, so we can be sure that their decisions will protect all citizens,” Petkov told reporters at the annual forum of Darik Radio.

The Entire Management of Bulgargaz has been Replaced

He said he had been informed that there were very serious reasons for the change in Bulgargaz's management - the choice of suppliers, how some of the trade deals had been made. They seem to have happened on the basis of wrong or wrong decisions, but the result is the same - we have higher gas prices than we should have. “We cannot just wake up on January 1 and the EWRC to say that gas prices are rising by another 30%,” he said.

The prime minister said the choice of the new leadership was entirely up to BEH and the energy minister.

According to him, if there was a working regulator, he would question Bulgargaz's request for a price increase.

“The autobiographies of all these people will be viewed critically. I trust Minister Nikolov, and he trusts BEH that these people are fit to do the job,” he added.

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