site.btaUPDATED President Radev after B9 Summit on Ukraine: Crisis to Have Serious Impact on Economic, Social Life

Speaking at a briefing after Friday's Extraordinary Summit of the NATO Bucharest 9 in Warsaw, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev said that the sanctions against Russia were taken with consensus at Friday's Council of Europe meeting. "These sanctions are not light at all, their effect will be felt in time and it will be a serious one, but we have to take into account that this crisis that occurred will have a serious impact on our economic and social life."

"We are already seeing the short-term effect: the energy prices went up again," he went on to say. He added that, however, the instability in the region will have long-term consequences, such as problems with supply chains, with air, sea and energy routes, with the investment climate. In his words, where there is insecurity, investors avoid such zones, and Bulgaria has been dragged into such a zone.

"That is why we have to make all possible solidarity efforts so that this conflict be arranged as soon as possible and we return to peace," Radev said.

The provision of military assistance to Ukraine was not discussed at the B9 Summit, he stressed. The participants put an emphasis on the sanctions to be imposed on Russia.