🇪🇺🇧🇬 Bulgaria Is Back! Radev Promises Von der Leyen Stability, Reform & Stronger European Defence!

Added: 2026-05-31

[00:00:00]Madam President, dear Ursula, first of all, thank you for your invitation and for the fruitful conversation we held today in a critical moment for Europe.

[00:00:10]In a critical moment when our union needs uh clear vision and stability, needs a robust investment in competitiveness, in stability and security, along with strong cohesion and agricultural policy to guarantee the most important, the security and well-being of our citizens.

[00:00:34]Uh this meeting comes also for in a very interesting time for Bulgaria, as Bulgaria has been always a strong contributor to the European security by playing a key role in the European security architecture, bringing industrial capacity and digital modernization.

[00:00:54]My country plays a pivotal role for providing stability, security, and diversification in energy supply for the entire Southeast European region.

[00:01:08]And we play a key role in enhancing connectivity in all domains.

[00:01:14]Uh you have been to Bulgaria many times and you are well aware about the potential of our country. We have just discussed and past 5 years of political instability and challenges in government and rule of law didn't allow us to fully unlock this potential, but now the time has been changing. Finally, we have a stable uh reform-oriented energetic government with a clear agenda to stabilize the budget and to provide conditions for stable and sustainable economic growth, to strengthen the rule of law and root out the corruption and to be responsible in providing a better security and defense capabilities to our region.

[00:02:09]Uh that's why today's meeting was very important to share our priorities and to shape up our cooperation uh in the future. For us, the recovery and resilience plan is not just a funding source.

[00:02:27]Uh we regard this plan as an strong, robust instrument for delivering uh substantial reforms.

[00:02:36]And you know, we for the last 3 years we are lagging behind, but we have the strong ambition to catch up and to meet all the deadlines till the end of August this year. And thank you for your you know, sober judgment and based on the success we scored for the last 2 weeks to to introduce the new most important acts for anti-corruption commission and prosecutor general.

[00:03:09]They're adopted already in our parliament in the first reading and the money you have just declared, the first portion of money, is unlocked. So, this is a huge contribution for the budget of Bulgaria to the Bulgarian people.

[00:03:23]Uh talking about uh the energy sector uh the Bulgarian energy system has a key role in providing stability in Southeast Europe energy system as a whole.

[00:03:36]That's why we take this matter extremely seriously and I do believe that uh RRP, the RRP and just transition plan will contribute for smooth transition and transformation for building new industrial zones, which is our goal and for opening new working places.

[00:04:00]Thus, bringing more confidence to our common efforts to make our union stronger, stable, and working for its citizens.

[00:04:09]And thank you for your understanding to support a big green project. This is the hydro pump power plant. We have This is the biggest hydro pump station in Bulgaria. And now, after your commitment to finalize the environmental file, you can go full forward and to use European money, to use national money to build this big green energy storage for the benefit of the entire region.

[00:04:48]I do also believe that next steps in our energy projects should lead to this transformation, but also should preserve our competitiveness.

[00:05:02]Also, regarding uh the EU emissions trading system, which should allow a certain amount of flexibility to preserve our competitiveness in time of huge challenges for the energy in Europe as well.

[00:05:19]And talking about multi-annual financial frame, I do believe that together, through the dialogue and discussions in front of us, we'll find a balance and fair solution so to invest robustly in the defense and security and competitiveness, but not to forget that cohesion and agricultural policy are key pillars of our unity.

[00:05:43]And also talking about strategic autonomy, we should not forget that it includes food security and autonomy as well.

[00:05:53]And >> [clears throat] >> looking forward the challenging security situation I would like to assure you that we'll take a full advantage of the safe instrument as a clear and reliable mechanism to increase our defense capabilities. This is our own responsibility to take care about our own security and the security of Europe as a whole.

[00:06:19]I do believe that this is just the beginning of a fruitful cooperation between the new Bulgarian government and the commission.

[00:06:27]We're looking forward to take advantage of our mutual efforts to make our union stronger, safer and reliable place for our citizens.

[00:06:40]Thank you.

[00:06:40]>> very much.

[00:06:41]Very good. Thank you.

[00:06:43]>> I appreciate.

[00:06:43]>> Thank you.

[00:06:45]Next.