25.09.2020
“The United Nations Organization has no alternative in terms of the promotion of international law and multilateral cooperation. Moreover, in the face of a pandemic, more than ever before the world needs the Organization as a moral leader.”
This is what Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said in his speech at the General Debate of the UN General Assembly 75th Session, which is held online because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The theme of this year’s debate is “The future we want, the United Nations we need: reaffirming our collective commitment to multilateralism – confronting COVID-19 through effective multilateral action.”
Prime Minister Borissov stressed to world leaders that as a member state of the European Union Bulgaria will fight for a strong United Nations Organization, which it considers its major partner, and for a solid foundation of rules-based multilateral order. In this context, the Prime Minister pointed out that in 2020, the current year, Bulgaria marked the 65th anniversary of its accession to the United Nations. “As a member of the UN and of the EU my country readily takes on its responsibilities. We actively support the UN’s leading role in multilateralism to address the pandemic globally,” Prime Minister Borissov said.
In his speech, the Prime Minister stressed that the coronavirus is dominating the agenda of all institutions in the world and has upturned people’s lives. One of the initiatives that Bulgaria has joined within the framework of measures to support third countries to deal with the infection is the European Union’s “Team Europe” package. Bulgaria has earmarked just over one million euro of its own to emergency humanitarian aid, healthcare and support for socio-economic development in the region of the Western Balkans, the Eastern Partnership countries, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Afghanistan, as Mr. Borissov enumerated. In his words, in order to recover from the negative consequences of the pandemic in the Western Balkans region, it is particularly important to make effective use of the cooperation mechanisms devised such as the Berlin Process that Bulgaria co-chairs this year with the Republic of North Macedonia.
Further Prime Minister Borissov’s speech at the General Debate focused on UN peacekeeping operations that are strongly illustrative of international cooperation and solidarity.
“The global pandemic is a threat, among other, to the timely implementation of the UN Agenda 2030. Together with the other EU member states Bulgaria is fully committed to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals in the Decade of Action”, Prime Minister Borissov went on to say. As he put it, to pull out of the current crisis does not imply to come back to the previous way of life; it is necessary to rest on a new paradigm through the implementation of long-term economic measures. “Thus the world will be prepared against future systemic shocks”, Mr. Borissov stressed.
Within the framework of the UN General Assembly 75th Session, on Monday, 28 September, Bulgaria will join the initiative “Leaders’ Pledge for Nature”. The initiative has been conceived by states from all continents. The pledge is designed to demonstrate the political will of the Heads of State and Government to protect biodiversity and to undertake concrete actions of recovery seeking to protect nature, climate and people. The initiative supports the upcoming Summit on Biodiversity on 30 September 2020. Bulgaria will attend the Summit.
