"There is no way that 20% of Bulgarians believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin aims for peace. There is no way that, as a new Hitler, you can attack and kill Ukrainians and not give them the right to sovereignty, but also be a peacemaker. Civil society in Bulgaria must confront the Hitler of the 21st century".
This was stated by the President of Bulgaria in the period 2012-2017, Rosen Plevneliev, at the opening of the Sofia Economic Forum.
According to him, peace cannot be achieved with a deal. If there are two leaders with a strong hand, the result has never been peace. There can be no peace by imposing rules. If the rules are not respected, there will be no peace, emphasized Rosen Plevneliev, who believes in the power of the European Union.
According to the ex-president, there is no way that the US president, who does not understand democracy and attacks independent media, and the next day arrests them, can teach us about democracy.
"An example of democracy is the EU and we must preserve this beautiful flower of democracy. America is no longer of the European type - there are many Indians, Latin Americans there and the balance of power has been lost,", Plevneliev criticized US policy.
According to Rosen Plevneliev, the situation today and the difficulties we face must be understood. We must realize what our positions on peace are, he urged. Plevneliev believes that peace is possible if Germany, France and Estonia unite in efforts to reach a consensus.
"There is no peace when you go back to the 19th century. We Europeans are the best in democracy, human rights, quality of life. Our economy is not that good and when we talk about the regional situation, we should openly have a debate", insisted Rosen Plevneliev.
The former president explained that in terms of the big economic picture, it is clear that we need to understand that it is about human lives and societies. If everything is easy, everything passes and we don't pay attention to it, but the way in which difficult moments are passed defines humanity, countries, families. We are going through a difficult moment in history, Plevneliev pointed out.
"Politicians are divided into democrats and those who are values and have interests. "In difficult times, what will help us get through the difficulties are values, not interests," Plevneliev added.