14.12.2023
”Bulgaria’s strategy for accession to Schengen is to negotiate about land borders. We have prepared proposals that we will send to Austria.” This was stated by Prime Minister Acad. Nikolai Denkov prior to the meeting of the European Council in Brussels. The Prime Minister noted that the European Commission would be the mediator in these negotiations. Acad. Nikolai Denkov said that the day before he had discussed the matter with the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, with Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis and with Austria’s Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer. “We don’t want to be held as a hostage to decisions that have nothing to with the general logic of EU development,” the Prime Minister said.
“Hungary has officially notified that if Bulgaria does not lift the fee for the transit of Russian gas, it will impose a veto over our accession to Schengen.” This was the Prime Minister’s reply to a media question about the reasons for the deferment of the fee for the transit of Russian gas to Hungary and Serbia.
Concerning the EU’s long-term budget and the provision of aid to Ukraine, Prime Minister Acad. Nikolai Denkov commented that it is actually aid to Europe and, in particular, to Bulgaria as a country in the eastern part of the continent. If Ukraine loses the war, Europe will have to prepare for spending far more than what is now being discussed to prevent aggression. “Such spending is an investment in the future,” the Prime Minister noted and added that the control of migration would be another priority of the European budget.
The Prime Minister commented, inter alia, on relations with Romania. He described them as excellent and gave as an example the Trilateral Meeting with the Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the Prime Minister of Romania Ion-Marcel Ciolacu in Varna and the project of a new bridge between the two countries. It is planned to build the bridge between Rousse and Giurgiu. “The two countries work together very hard to increase the navigability of the Danube,” the Prime Minister said.
Acad. Nikolai Denkov was asked to share his opinion about the dismantlement of elements from the Monument to the Soviet Army in Sofia and about the frustration of the sitting in Parliament. ”The National Assembly must work, as it has to solve extremely important problems. This is not the way to protest against a fully legitimate operation that has been delayed for years.”
Yesterday the Prime Minister took part in the EU-Western Balkans Summit, and in the following days, he will attend a meeting of the European Council in Brussels where the European leaders will discuss the EU’s response to the Russian invasion in Ukraine, the EU’s solidarity with Ukraine, the EU enlargement policy, the EU’s long-term budget and security and defense cooperation.
