SOFIA (Bulgaria), January 19 (SeeNews) – Bulgaria’s membership of the EU and NATO is a strategic choice based on shared values and responsibilities which should not be questioned, the country's new president Rumen Radev said on Thursday.
“Bulgaria has the potential to strengthen its active role in Southeast Europe, through actively initiating actions for improving security, cooperation and economic development,” Radev said during his swearing-in ceremony in parliament televised live.
Although there is an obvious crisis in relations between Russia on one side, and the EU and NATO on the other, the president’s role is to use the mechanisms available, through the organizations which Bulgaria is part of, to help resolve the crisis, Radev added.
The migrant crisis can only be resolved by a common and decisive European policy which is not currently in place, the president said. Measures for the strengthening of Bulgaria’s border protection are also needed, he added.
Reforming the country’s justice system should be a priority for the next Bulgarian parliament, Radev, who will take office on January 22, pointed out.
Following the resignation of the minority coalition government in November, one of the first tasks of Radev as new head of state will be to appoint a caretaker cabinet, dissolve parliament and call early elections.
Prime minister Boyko Borisov submitted the resignation of the coalition government composed of centre-right GERB party and right-wing Reformist Bloc following the defeat of the candidate of GERB in the presidential elections.
Radev, backed by main opposition Socialists, won won 59.37% of the vote in the second round of the presidential elections in November, way ahead of GERB's candidate, parliament speaker Tsetska Tsacheva, who won 36.16%.