site.btaPresident Radev on Relations with Germany, Current Topics on Political Agenda

President Rumen Radev commented his visit to Germany and Monday meetings with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The Bulgarian head of State also commented energy supplies, Bulgaria's relations with the Republic of North Macedonia in the context of the EU and the war in Ukraine.

Bilateral relations

“I am satisfied by the German side’s understanding on all the important positions for Bulgaria,” Radev told journalists after the meetings.
 
Bulgaria and Germany are strategic partners and it is crucial that they continue to maintain dialogue at the highest political level, the Bulgarian head of State said, adding that such dialogue is important for both furthering effective cooperation and the much-needed common positions within the EU.   

Commenting bilateral cooperation, Radev said that there is common understanding that the German side will continue with its investments in Bulgaria. “I expect cooperation to continue yielding better results,” he said, recalling that two-way trade has increased, as well as investments in high value-added industries. 

Commenting the diversification of natural gas supplies, Radev said that much time and effort will be needed to build the necessary infrastructure with new contracts. More importantly, Bulgaria has Germany’s “full understanding and support for its inclusion in the derrogation for the Russian oil ban,” he said. 

North Macedonia

The question of North Macedonia was also discussed during the Bulgarian President’s Monday meetings in Berlin. Radev expressed satisfaction with the understanding for Bulgaria’s position concerning the Republic of North Macedonia.  
 
“When we talk about the common European context and European institutions, we must not allow the tendency to gain strength […] for our national position concerning the Republic of North Macedonia to become hostage of the conflict in Ukraine,” Radev said. According to him, it is exceptional how Europe, which has become an example for the rest of the world when it comes to democracy, human rights, tolerance, resistance to hate speech, is ready to turn away from these principles and values. That is why Bulgaria, being a responsible EU Member State, must work on integrating into the Union partners and not problems, Radev said. “Let’s think about the EU’s stability in the long-term,” he added.  

War in Ukraine

Commenting the war in Ukraine, which was among the topics discussed on Monday, Radev said that a solution to end the conflict must be sought as soon as possible. “Bulgaria is part of all European and NATO decisions concerning Ukraine, but there’s no imperative there for the provision of weapons,” he said. The Bulgarian President recalled the large historical Bulgarian diaspora located precisely in the conflict’s zone and described it as “unacceptable” for Bulgarian weapons to be used to kill Bulgarians in one way or another.