“There is no savior – each of us is responsible for the society we are building“. This was said by Sofia Mayor Vasil Terziev during an event on the topic “The Burden of the Capital: Sofia between National Expectations and European Ambitions“, organized by the student club “Model European Union“ at the American University in Bulgaria.
During the meeting with students and guests, he spoke about the challenges facing the governance of the capital, the need for sustainable policies and the personal responsibility of capable people to get involved in public life.
In his words, the big change begins when more prepared, capable and honest people choose not to stay away from public life, but to take their share of responsibility for the direction in which society develops.
During the discussion, Terziev outlined the broader role of Sofia as a city that must be active, recognizable and competitive on the European stage. “The place of the capital among European cities is not won with a peripheral presence, but with active work, international participation and capacity for partnerships.” According to him, Sofia is already taking an increasingly visible place in European city networks and is increasingly receiving recognition for the people, teams and potential it has.
He was categorical that the withdrawal of capable people from public and political life has a high price. “If capable people stay away from public life, we cannot complain about the results“, said Terziev. According to him, good policies are made by good and prepared people, and the refusal to participate leaves important decisions in the hands of those who have neither the capacity nor the moral compass to make them in the interest of society.
Vasil Terziev paid special attention to the difficulty of making reforms in an environment in which every important policy goes through heavy institutional and political obstacles. “Some policies are not adopted the first or second time, but maybe the third or thirtieth. Sustainable change comes not with giving up, but with persistence and the ability to defend the right decisions even when they are met with resistance.”
In his address to the students, the mayor of Sofia encouraged young people to think not only about their personal success, but also about what they do with it. “The important thing is not whether you succeed, but what you choose to do with that success“, he said. In his words, at some point, a person must be ready to give back not only their time, but also their energy, experience and reputation, to help others and contribute to a better society.
Returning to AUBG was also a personal experience for the mayor of Sofia. He emphasized the importance of the university for his development and for the formation of the values that he still follows in public life today. The meeting was held with strong interest and active dialogue with the students on topics related to leadership, governance, reforms, the political environment and the future of Sofia.