We should pursue our interests, not become hostage of foreign interests, the Head of State said ahead of the B9 summit in Kosice

 

“I am here to make sure that no one else decides the future of the Bulgarian energy projects. During the preparations for the meeting I established that specific texts of the prewritten declaration endanger the implementation of key infrastructure projects which serve our national interest and I did what was necessary to remove the problematic texts from the declaration.”  This is what President Rumen Radev said today in reply to a journalist’s question pertaining to the stance he will maintain at the B9 summit, which is held in the Slovak town of Kosice. 

 

Within the international forum Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland are to discuss security issues within NATO’s collective approach. 

 

The Head of State emphasized that he expects the Bulgarian government “to capitalize on the visit of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to Bulgaria so that Bulgaria doesn’t become hostage to foreign interests.” In Rumen Radev’s words, NATO has enough mechanisms to draw up a single policy, whereas the regional format sharpens rhetoric, which runs counter to the Alliance’s policy of restraint and dialogue. The President added that unfortunately the informal B9 initiative has distanced itself from its original idea and even poses risks to the interests of the nine member states, going beyond the approaches adopted by all 29 allies.  

 

The meeting also includes NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.