EU enlargement should be based on clear principles, taking into account each country's own merits in the integration process. Compliance with this principle is a guarantee of maintaining stability and security in Europe. This was stated by President Rumen Radev at a meeting with the EU Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy Oliver Varhelyi, who is on a working visit to this country. The European integration of the Western Balkans has no alternative and the progress of the countries of the region should not fall out of the focus of the European institutions, Radev pointed out.

The head of state expressed his appreciation for the fruitful dialogue and the efforts made by Commissioner Varhelyi for the development of the European integration process. Rumen Radev and Oliver Varhelyi discussed the prospects for the enlargement process, both in the Western Balkans and Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia. Noting the differences in the geopolitical context in which the individual candidate countries find themselves, the two emphasised that each country's EU accession is based on its own merits and the fulfilment of clear and unambiguous criteria and conditions that are well known to all countries.

President Rumen Radev expressed expectation that after the end of the election campaign in the Republic of North Macedonia and the holding of the elections there, the political situation in our south-western neighbour will enable the full implementation of the European decision from July 2022, which is an unavoidable element on Skopje's path to the EU. Statements of a provocative nature by leading political figures in the RNM, made during the campaign, do not help to strengthen the dialogue between our two countries, said the Bulgarian head of state. Rumen Radev added that good neighbourliness is a major aspect in the expansion process and pointed to the readiness of this country, regardless of the negative messages from Skopje, to renew efforts for constructive bilateral cooperation.

President Radev and Commissioner Varhelyi also discussed the debated options for future EU reform, including changes to decision-making mechanisms in the Council of the EU. The Bulgarian head of state stated that on the topic of enlargement, our country categorically supports the preservation of the principle of unanimity.