Bulgaria has already expressed its position that it will not allow sanctions against Russia, which harm and carry a risk to the Bulgarian economy, especially to the functioning of the refinery in Burgas. If there is a risk to the company's work, Bulgaria will demand that it be excluded from the sanctions list. There are also risks regarding the supply of spare parts to the capital's metro, the supply of fertilizers to Bulgaria and the EU in general. All these things will be discussed for now, and it is equally important for Bulgaria not to mix politics with religion. Prime Minister Rumen Radev posted this on his Facebook profile and added:
The time for crusades is over, because the war in Ukraine has already gone beyond the trenches. It extends to the economy and energy, to culture and sports, and we must not allow it to encompass religion. This is not about the personality of the Russian Patriarch at all, but about the Russian Orthodox Church, because Russian Orthodoxy contributed to our liberation from five centuries of Ottoman slavery. So the Bulgarian Orthodox Church must also have an opinion here. When we talk about this type of sanctions, how exactly do they contribute to the end of the war?
Bulgaria will in no way hinder common European decisions regarding Ukraine, including negotiations for EU membership. Whoever wants to supply military aid and military equipment to Ukraine is free to do so. Bulgaria makes a decision about our supplies, based on what we have in stock and whether we can do it. The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has expressed a desire to meet with me and today it will be held.
Today's European Council is dedicated to the Multiannual Financial Framework and for Bulgaria the policy of strengthening the competitiveness of the EU, which affects all of us and strengthening security, is extremely important. We must be very careful, because against the backdrop of macroeconomic imbalances, geoeconomic contradictions and disruption of supply chains, common solutions must lead to a reduction in energy prices, electricity, the introduction of new technologies and the renewal of industrial production and investments in strategic technologies.
Extremely many resources will be focused in the new Competitiveness Fund and Bulgaria will seek partners to prevent less developed countries from not having sufficient access to participation in this fund. Because when we talk about competitiveness, developed countries and their leading companies have an advantage. We want to include Bulgarian companies in the value chains in the European Union, so that there are funds for our companies as well, so that there is equality. That is why I am trying to introduce a new term “industrial cohesion“ in the European Council, which is of key importance for development.
With the EU Member States from the group of “Friends of Cohesion“ We also advocate a common position that there should be no reduction in cohesion funds, as well as in relation to agricultural policy.