Bulgaria has significantly expanded its position in Southeast Europe and the Black Sea region
30 July 2014 News
The work at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is proceeding in a normal way, there are no efforts to make last minute appointments, said the outgoing Foreign Minister Kristian Vigenin on the BNT morning program. He emphasized that there is an ongoing standard rotation of employees of the Ministry, and in the past year this has been a transparent process where all decisions are taken with the necessary professionalism and they guarantee a predictable career development.
Kristian Vigenin rejected the idea of isolation of Bulgaria on the foreign policy arena. This was a comfortable thesis because it was based on the understanding of Prime Minister Oresharski to visit places that really matter for Bulgaria and where we can achieve actual results, he said. According to him, despite the challenging environment, Bulgaria has significantly expanded its position in Southeast Europe and the Black Sea region. During my term, I paid particular attention to the bilateral relations with the EU member states. I have visited London, Paris, Berlin, Rome at the invitation of my colleagues, which would hardly happen if we were in isolation, he added.
As foreign minister, I have worked hard with regard to energy projects and prospects of the country, said Kristian Vigenin. We have improved the coordination between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Economy and Energy, which was actually missing before. It should be clear that, despite the populist rhetoric, Bulgaria is a member of the EU, and on its territory a project that is in conflict with the European rules cannot be implemented. The question is in their interpretation, as the derogation is also part of the European rules, he said, adding that along with the mobilization of political support in the EU for South Stream he has also called for more flexibility from the Russian side.
The situation in Ukraine was a major part of our work this year, pointed out the Foreign Minister, adding that Bulgaria has expressed a clear, balanced, principled position, achieving concrete success. My efforts were aimed at protecting the big Bulgarian community there. I was the minister who raised the issue of minority languages and it was included in the EU Council decisions, said Kristian Vigenin.
As regards the new set of sanctions that the European Union is expected to impose on Russia, Minister Vigenin expressed the view that they will not directly affect Bulgaria, but explained that today by 12.00 pm. the government leaders of the member states must declare in writing whether or not they support this package. I hope this is the last set of sanctions because so far the sanctions haven’t proved to be successful, and a new set could have a serious impact on us. It is time to sit at the negotiating table, to stop hostilities and to seek a political solution, he added.
On the nomination of European Commissioner, Kristian Vigenin recalled that despite the decision of the Advisory Council on National Security to hold a discussion among political leaders on the important portfolios for Bulgaria, the expectations from the Bulgarian representative and afterwards to discuss particular name, that has never happened. An attempt was made all of the factors to be presupposed in favor of a particular person, even the President has already announced the candidature of Kristalina Georgieva on the television. The Minister recommended while supporting Georgieva’s candidacy for the post of High Representative, to comment on other specific portfolios, which she could potentially take.