Bulgaria and Germany are true partners in the field of security. Our defense industries cooperate closely and we want to deepen this cooperation. This was said by German Foreign Minister Johann Vaddeful, who was on a visit to Bulgaria and met with his Bulgarian counterpart Georg Georgiev, BTA reported.
„We are very glad that the Bulgarian government is investing in the defense industry. We must very decisively deepen this cooperation. We need to build up, upgrade the defense capabilities in the European part of NATO“, believes Johann Wadeful.
The German Foreign Minister commented on the topic of the ceasefire reached between Israel and Hamas.
“This is the first difficult and difficult stage that we managed to complete successfully, especially with regard to the hostages, who suffered immeasurable suffering. We were also waiting to see what the outcome would be, so we are happy about this important step that has been achieved“, he said. According to him, now we must also work on ending the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
This is where the next chapter begins. We must deal with the new tasks, because with this agreement, peace in the region is far from being achieved. Many more steps are needed. Many heads of state and government are meeting to reach the two-state solution that we are currently advocating for, Johan Vaddeful added.
“We need to pay attention to what is happening in Europe. We see the increasing aggression of Russia, as well as the hybrid threat. Drones over our airports, cyberattacks, acts of sabotage in the Baltic Sea and violations of allied airspace along NATO's eastern flank – "We oppose this sensibly but decisively," the German Foreign Minister also said in the joint statement after the meeting.
According to him, Ukraine is facing another difficult winter in the conditions of war, and according to him, the task of the European Union is to support Ukraine and increase pressure on Moscow.
Since the beginning of this year, Bulgaria has been a full member of the Schengen area, and Bulgaria and Germany will be even more connected precisely through joining the eurozone, Wadeful also said.
He also drew attention to the topic of the enlargement of the European Union.
The countries of the Western Balkans, Ukraine and Moldova - it is clear for them. They are part of our European family and we will support them on their path to the European Union. Step by step, within the framework of the accession criteria, added the German Foreign Minister. He recalled, however, that the conditions for accession must be met.
Of course, the EU itself must be ready for enlargement. We will only cope with this if we become even more stable. How can we speed up the process? We must go together, he replied.
It is important that the candidate countries for membership of the European Union adhere to the criteria, policies and conditions that they themselves have agreed to. This was stated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Georg Georgiev after the meeting with his German counterpart Johann Wadeful.
“For us, it is important to preserve the principle of own merits“, Minister Georgiev told his German counterpart.
“For us, the enlargement of the European Union to the countries of the Western Balkans is important because it is an investment in our own regional security, but respecting the conditions, maintaining a spirit of good neighborliness, partnership and, ultimately, demonstrating goodwill to comply with international agreements is also essential. I am glad that we do not have any disagreement here regarding whether our Western neighbors should change their constitutions as a starting step for starting their negotiations for membership in the European Union and how positive political discourse should be structured, regardless of the internal political processes taking place in the countries“, Minister Georgiev also said.
“This is a commitment that we adhere to, but which we would be happy for our partners to adhere to as well“, he also pointed out.
Bilateral relations between Bulgaria and Germany are excellent, with Germany being among our closest strategic partners, Georgiev continued.
Minister Georgiev pointed out that the visit of his German counterpart demonstrates the close relations between the two countries and stressed that a conversation was also held with GERB leader Boyko Borisov.
“The demonstration of parliamentary support for the joint efforts of the two governments proves that there are very strong ties between Bulgaria and Germany. Ties that in days of conflict – the war in Ukraine and Russian aggression, the recent conflict in the Middle East, our countries have stood firm and looked in the same direction“, pointed out Minister Georgiev.
He stressed that today's talks discussed cooperation in the economy, the military industry, common security and defense, partnership in NATO and the EU, ending the war in Ukraine, as well as continuing the assistance provided to it. Minister Georgiev specified that a project for the construction of a common European air and missile defense system was also discussed, which, according to him, meets Bulgarian support. “Because we have just recently seen what the provocations against European airspace are with the entry of unmanned aerial vehicles into the airspace of Poland, Romania, countries that are extremely close to us“, recalled Georgiev.
He also pointed out that Bulgaria strongly wants to draw attention to the Black Sea region and security in the Black Sea.
“An important part that I cannot ignore in our cooperation in the field of security and defense, of course, is the partnership with the German company “Rheinmetall“. Which we expect together with VMZ to begin the construction of two factories in Bulgaria. This is an extremely important stage in the development of our bilateral economic, trade, but also security relations“, the minister also emphasized.
He assured that Bulgaria is a reliable partner in the field of security, which, in his words, has allowed the assistance to Ukraine to remain solid. But we should also not forget that Bulgaria is making extremely systematic efforts to modernize its armed forces, the Minister of Foreign Affairs also said.
The region remains fragile, despite the ceasefire in the Middle East, the Bulgarian Minister of Foreign Affairs also said.
The Black Sea is a region bordering on war. Our insistence is that the Black Sea be increasingly present on the agenda of NATO and the European Union, pointed out Georg Georgiev.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs emphasized that our country has an interest in keeping the region secure, in supporting topics such as shipping security and others. He gave the example of transport corridors and those for military mobility, pointing out the important importance of transport corridor 8.
"The achieved ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which we have been hoping for for a long time, for which we must give due credit to President Trump and his administration, and the ceasefire is very valuable and important, both for us as countries and peoples", Minister Georgiev also said during the joint statement at the meeting.
"With the release of the hostages by Hamas terrorists, a Bulgarian citizen was released, Germans were released, innocent people were released", he recalled.
"From here on, the healing process begins, we hope the reconstruction of Gaza, the end of the suffering and the humanitarian catastrophe and the giving of a new direction to the Middle East region. In this process, Bulgaria and Germany were also friends and partners, and held very close positions on how to approach the establishment of peace in this region," the Bulgarian Minister of Foreign Affairs added.