Security and defense come first. Europeans will have to leave the promised land. This was stated to "Focus" Elena Poptodorova, longtime ambassador to the USA and vice president of the Atlantic Club in Bulgaria.
She pointed out that Europe has gone through an unprecedented process of transformation after Russia's war against Ukraine: "Europe managed to remain united through the European Union, through the decisions of the European Union. This is the biggest transformation in the European Union because it will change the DNA of the European Union. For so many decades, the European Union has been developing as an economic place, as an economic power in the world. This is soft power, this is economy, trade, finance, culture if you will, but not defense and security.
This was both the stated and hidden pride of the European Union – that we are the finer, higher power, not brute military power, but that noble, higher, soft power that ultimately gives more to the people, to its citizens. And suddenly it turns out that this is a promised land that we Europeans will have to leave or at least fortify. This promised land, it must be well guarded, well defended.
According to Elena Poptodorova, the traditional political families in the EP will have to engage much more insistently in their campaigns in the upcoming European elections, including in individual countries, in order to be able to reduce the alarming forecast of an increase in radical, highly nationalistic, in many cases and anarchist voices in the European Parliament.