We strongly welcome the efforts of President Trump, the US administration and European partners to find lasting and sustainable peace in Ukraine. Nothing for Ukraine could happen without itself. Whatever plans and compromises are envisaged from now on, the Ukrainian side is the one that should have the final say on them. This was commented on in the program "Intervjuto" Minister of Foreign Affairs Georg Georgiev.
He believes that with his statements the American president made it clear that this plan is not final and that additional negotiations will be held on it, as confirmed by today's meeting in Geneva.
"Until we see a final form, reflecting the opinion of Ukraine, we would not be able to know from now on what the developments will be", Georgiev pointed out.
According to him, the compromise is determined by Ukraine and it is she who knows best how far the boundaries of such a possible compromise can extend and what it can entail:
"For us, a trend that includes a reduction in the size of the Ukrainian army or concessions not established under international law could pose risks, including for European security. And for this reason, we have always said that our EU partners should also have a decisive say when we talk about the architecture of what is happening on our continent."
According to the Foreign Minister, the plan is a basis for negotiations, provides starting points and reflects the views of the parties to the conflict:
"We really do not imagine that Russia is the one that should have the most say. Because we should not forget how the war started and who the aggressor is in it."
Regarding the sanctions imposed on "Lukoil" and "Rosneft", Georg Georgiev said that the Kremlin regime is trying to defend its interests, be they political, social, economic:
"But ultimately the sanctions imposed on "Lukoil" and "Rosneft" gave a clear request. We do not want to feed the regime in Moscow and we believe that everything that will weaken Russia's ability to wage this insane war must be done. And I believe that Bulgaria in this situation reacted extremely quickly, extremely adequately and indeed the actions of the government did the only thing possible in this situation. First, together with the parliamentary majority and the parties that form it, changes in the legislation, such as would allow the expansion of the functions of the special governor so that we could meet the expectations that were from OFAK and from there on, the path to the corresponding derogation could be found. I believe that this happened extremely promptly. You see that there are still countries that have also suffered from the sanctions, I am talking about European countries, but which have not yet managed to obtain this exception. Bulgaria did it in about two weeks."
In relation to the Russian drones that continue to enter the NATO space of countries neighboring Hungary, the minister said that these provocations are aimed at weakening our capabilities, but to test how far we can mobilize defense forces:
"Several initiatives that have been formulated, the wall of drones, the "Eastern Guard" operation, all of these are active actions within the framework of the European Union and NATO, which are aimed precisely at increasing our operational ability to reflect such provocations, and at some point, God forbid, attacks will also be necessary. Because you saw Poland, you saw Romania, almost every day the airspace of our partners in the Baltic countries is violated. So what Russia is doing is in no way demonstrating that it wants and strives for peace and tranquility on the European continent, quite the opposite. This is the reason why we are modernizing our armed forces, investing in defense capabilities, investing in air defense, investing in early warning means, and I can say that Bulgaria is the most exceptionally active and proactive part of all such initiatives, which aim, of course, at investing in our capabilities, but they are part of a large complex of actions that are together with our partners and allies."
When asked when the final decision on Bulgaria's membership in the OECD is expected to be made, Georgiev answered as follows:
"This is a path that we started during the third government of Mr. Borisov. Then, applications were made that Bulgaria wanted to join the organization. Unfortunately, unforeseen circumstances, such as the Covid crisis and the subsequent political one in Bulgaria, prevented us from succeeding earlier. But I can say that at the moment we have successfully closed more than half of the technical criteria or the so-called committees in which Bulgaria must demonstrate its progress. Work is being done along the lines of all institutions that are relevant to the process, it includes a lot of legislative amendments. The coordination unit, which is located in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, works extremely efficiently in sync with other colleagues in the ministries, in the Council of Ministers, in the National Assembly, where, as you know, a subcommittee was established that is thematic and dedicated to our membership in the OECD. We very much hope that by the beginning of next year we will be able to close the so-called technical stage, from which only the political decision will remain, which should be taken by the Committee of Ministers of the organization. This should probably be somewhere around mid-2026. But for this purpose we need to achieve maximum mobilization, because everything that concerns membership in such an organization is subject to strict technical parameters on the one hand, but of course as a result of persuading the partners. I think that compared to our other colleagues from Romania and Croatia, who are also in the pre-accession procedure, we are moving extremely satisfactorily."
The Foreign Minister explained that this is an organization that unites countries for which the standard of quality of their economies, their budget tax systems, political and social stability are evident.
"And it is precisely our membership in this organization that will represent such a final confirmation that Bulgaria belongs to the club of the most developed in every political-social-economic respect in the world. This gives confidence to investors, gives confidence that their funds in Bulgaria are protected, that business in Bulgaria is done according to all the rules of democracy and globally established standards. This provides a guarantee that Bulgaria is a safe destination in terms of doing business, in terms of the fact that when we appear, including on world markets, we are an emblem of quality."
Regarding the readiness of the Republic of North Macedonia to begin negotiations for EU membership, Georg Georgiev stated that unfortunately there are many actions by our southwestern neighbors that give us reason to doubt their sincerity regarding the European integration process.
"I recall that in 2018 it was Bulgaria that started the topic of enlargement towards the Western Balkans, so we cannot be accused in any way of our intentions and of respecting the importance of this issue. But the failure to implement the 2022 consensus, the fact that the Republic of North Macedonia and the authorities there categorically refuse to even start with the reforms, with the change of the Constitution, with the inclusion of Bulgarians in it, in all its parts, shows that even at a very early stage, namely the initial start of the accession process, it is undermined by political inaction there. I really hope that these imposed negative standards will be overcome and that work on the merits will be moved on. Because only then can Bulgaria be useful, only then can we talk about true good neighborliness and cooperation on the path of enlargement. Because we see in counterpoint to Skopje's behavior what is happening in Albania and Montenegro - countries very dedicated to their European integration process, which are actively working, which are making reforms and which are demonstrating their will."