REPORTERNET.COM

Bulgaria's foreign policy under the newly inaugurated President Rosen Plevneliev is to be characterized by a push for both stronger EU integration and opening up of the nation towards more distant regions with faster economic growth.

This has become clear from Plevneliev's first speech as the new head of state of the Republic of Bulgaria; he was formally sworn into office in the Bulgarian Parliament on Thursday, January 19, 2012, after in the fall of 2011 he won the Bulgarian presidential elections running on the ticket of the ruling center-right party GERB of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.
In his speech before the Parliament on Thursday, the new President stressed the need to reform further Bulgaria's diplomatic corps as well as to focus on building business and economic ties with parts of the world that have great potential and impressive economic growth, apparently meaning regions such as East, South, and Southeast Asia, and Latin America.
At the same time, however, he made it clear that this would not come at the expensive of Bulgaria's commitment to Europe and the EU.
"I will work for Bulgaria's European develop. More Europe means a stronger and richer Bulgaria but only when the EU is strong and united. That is why Bulgaria will work for a democratic and free European ," Plevneliev stated.
In the foreign policy part of his first speech, the new Bulgarian President also mentioned the most important recent developments and ongoing processes in Bulgaria's close regions – the Balkans, including the Western Balkans, and the Arab Spring revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa.
"The Balkans have changed fundamentally in the past 20 years, and Bulgaria's neighbors have their place in a united Europe," Plevneliev said, apparently referring to the EU aspirations of the Western Balkan nations.
"Bulgaria welcomes and supports the transformations in the Middle East and North Africa, and the quest for democracy in the Arab world," he declared as well.
In his capacity of the Commander-in-Chief of the Bulgarian armed forces, Plevneliev stressed Bulgaria's commitment to further defense reforms and its international alliances when it comes to security policy.
In his words, Bulgaria needs to develop "intelligent defense" systems and to maintain its strong solidarity with its allies, first and foremost in NATO.
"We cannot view Bulgaria's security outside the context of the common security of NATO and the EU. But when we are talking about such collective security mechanism, we need to be aware of our responsibility to contribute to them," Plevneliev said.


(source: www.novinte.com)