„There is no doubt that today's circumstances are forcing Europe to rethink itself and declare an ambition to build itself as a geopolitical player with relevant defense components. To what extent this can happen outside of NATO is a separate conversation. But certainly, the war in Ukraine is forcing Europe to think about how it can better defend itself.“
This is what Gergana Passi, president of “PanEurope Bulgaria” told Euronews Bulgaria. and former Minister for European Affairs.
“And to a large extent, the complicity of each of the member states will determine its positioning – in particular and Bulgaria – in a common European construction. You cannot be part of United Europe today if you do not participate in the defense of the continent, she added.
Here's what else Gergan Passy said:
Europe will look the way European citizens arrange it. Our EU membership gave us a reflex that Europe actually changes within five years and then looks completely different, with priorities rearranged by circumstances.
However, there are now expectations for a much more drastic change. There will be a rise in far-right, Eurosceptic political forces and some of the usual configurations are likely to be rearranged.
I think the way of making decisions will change a lot – it will become longer, more difficult, likely to require many more compromises. But the European Parliament has shown that it can adapt to new distributions of votes.
Bulgaria's voice in the EU is as strong as our position on each specific issue. And how strong are the arguments behind it.
There is a good tradition of Bulgarian MEPs uniting around issues that are clearly important for Bulgaria.