06/02/2024 EU's long-term commitment to Ukraine is the best guarantee for your country's free and secure future, National Assembly President Rosen Zhelyazkov told his Ukrainian[...]

06/02/2024

EU's long-term commitment to Ukraine is the best guarantee of your country's free and secure future. This is what the President of the National Assembly Rosen Zhelyazkov said at his meeting with the President of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk.

A Bulgarian delegation led by the President of Parliament is visiting Ukraine. It includes the head of the delegation of the National Assembly to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, Daniel Mitov, the head of the Bulgarian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Stanislav Anastasov, and the chairman of the Group for Friendship with Ukraine, Ivaylo Mirchev.

Bulgaria welcomes the European Council's decision to start negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU, Rosen Zhelyazkov stressed. Bulgaria strongly supports Ukraine's European integration and Euro-Atlantic perspective, the President of the National Assembly said. He pointed out that Bulgaria acknowledges the significant progress Ukraine has made on the steps outlined in the European Commission's opinion of June 2022.

Alongside the efforts of the " Trio " for EU enlargement in Eastern Europe and in particular for Ukraine and Moldova in the reform process, we encourage the continuation of the successful work on some key recommendations, Rosen Zhelyazkov said. He expressed the readiness of the Bulgarian parliament to share its experience and provide expertise for the implementation of the European Commission's recommendations and for bringing the Ukrainian legislation in line with that of the EU countries. You can rely on the MPs from the Friendship Group in the National Assembly, who will gladly assist and support the necessary steps to introduce European regulations, Rosen Zhelyazkov added.

The President of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Ruslan Stefanchuk, thanked the National Assembly and the Bulgarian people for the huge support they provide to Ukraine. The decisions to provide military and humanitarian assistance are of paramount importance to us and will never be forgotten, he stressed. I also thank you from the bottom of my heart for your care for Ukrainian refugees in Bulgaria, Ruslan Stefanchuk told the members of the Bulgarian delegation.

The EU enlargement process has a huge transformative power, it is key to promoting peace, security and democracy, Rosen Zhelyazkov noted. He stated that this policy is even more important against the backdrop of the new security context in Europe after Russia's aggressive war against Ukraine. It is of strategic importance for Bulgaria to have safe, stable, independent and prosperous countries in its immediate neighbourhood, that share our common values - democracy, the rule of law, human rights, including the rights of national minorities, the President of Parliament added.

Rosen Zhelyazkov noted that days ago, the leaders of the 27 EU member states unanimously approved the provision of an additional EUR 50 billion in aid to Ukraine from the European budget. In his words, this is an expression of the solidarity and support of the European countries, of their commitment in the process of reconstruction of Ukraine.

The President of the National Assembly expressed Bulgaria's deep concern after the unprecedented military actions of the Russian Federation in the Black Sea region. Rosen Zhelyazkov noted that to counter the threat of sea mines in the Black Sea, on 11 January 2024, a Trilateral Memorandum was signed in Istanbul between Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey to establish a joint mission to counter the mines (MCM Black Sea) and expressed hope that this mission would meet its humanitarian goals and contribute to the safety of navigation in the Black Sea.

We will continue to support Ukraine, we must not allow the Putin regime to tear off even a small piece of land from your country, the head of the National Assembly delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Daniel Mitov stressed at the meeting. In his words, if this happens, it would mean opening the door to other international brutes who want to change the modern world by force.

The pro-Western majority in the Bulgarian parliament will continue to support Ukraine with all the capacities at our disposal, the Chairman of the Friendship Group with Ukraine Ivaylo Mirchev assured the Ukrainian parliamentarians. He pointed out that during his visit to Odessa in the first days after the start of the Russian aggression, he saw the determination and will of the boys in the barricades. They said: "We will not surrender!", Ivaylo Mirchev added.

The head of the Bulgarian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Stanislav Anastasov, expressed gratitude for the cooperation in the field of energy and disinformation. I take this opportunity once again to express my confidence that the Euro-Atlantic majority in the Bulgarian Parliament will continue to support Ukraine and contribute to its post-war reconstruction, he added.