The international community must pull efforts and resources to end the war in Ukraine and thus pave the way to the country’s long-term recovery. This was stated by Prime Minister Rumen Radev in his intervention at the high-level international Ukraine Recovery Conference which is hosted this year by the Polish city of Gdańsk. The international conference is an annual event that brings together Heads of State and Government, members of international organizations and of financial institutions and the business community who discuss approaches to the coordination of the efforts for the country’s postwar reconstruction.

In his statement, Bulgaria’s Prime Minister recalled that the war in Ukraine had been fought for over four years and continues and that on 11 June it reached the “age” of World War I. “This war of attrition, destruction and devastation must end,” Rumen Radev said firmly. Therefore, in the Prime Minister’s view, the cessation of hostilities and the quest for a sustainable peaceful solution based on the UN Charter and the principles of international law by means of diplomacy should be a joint goal.

Rumen Radev said that dealing with the consequences of the war in Ukraine is not just an economic enterprise; it is important for the stability, security and competitiveness of the whole of Europe. Also, the Prime Minister emphasized that Bulgaria stands ready to support this process in the long term.

Bulgaria’s Prime Minister outlined three strategic areas of Ukraine’s recovery for which support can be counted on through regional cooperation initiatives, among other: energy diversification, connectivity in the Black Sea region and security cooperation.

Diversification of sources and routes for the transmission of energy resources is of key importance for Ukraine’s sustainable development and Bulgaria contributes to that by its share in the expansion of the Vertical Gas Corridor, Rumen Radev pointed out. The project interconnects the gas pipeline infrastructures of Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Moldova and Ukraine and after its completion soon will increase the security of natural gas supply to Ukraine and strengthen its energy security. Rumen Radev also noted the potential of projects for the transmission of electricity from the Caspian Sea region to Europe as such projects can also be employed in the process of recovery of Ukraine. Also, the Prime Minister emphasized the potentials of the Trans-Balkan Gas Pipeline.

The improvement of connectivity in the Black Sea region is of key importance for Ukraine’s recovery and economic relations and being one of the two EU member states with a Black Sea border, Bulgaria bears responsibility for the making of the European policy in the region in line with the EU Strategic Approach to the Black Sea. In this regard, Rumen Radev recalled that Bulgaria works hard to build Transport Corridor 8 that connects the Adriatic Sea and the Black Sea by a modern railway and motorway connection and that it works with Greece and Romania to build a multimodal corridor Thessaloniki-Kavala-Alexandroupolis-Bourgas-Varna-Rousse-Constanţa that will provide reliable new supply chains for the entire region and for Ukraine.

The partnership between Bulgaria and Romania to establish a Joint Maritime Security Center in the Black Sea was noted by Rumen Radev as an opportunity that contributes to Ukraine’s economic recovery by the exchange of information, assurance of the security of critical maritime infrastructure and freedom of navigation, protection of the environment and monitoring the risks to security.

Further the Prime Minister gave prominence to Ukraine’s strong ambition to join the EU and called that it may become a real driving force for the implementation of institutional reforms and modernization and for the development of an attractive, transparent and predictable business climate in the country to boost local businesses and promote investment into the Ukrainian economy. The Prime Minister noted that Bulgaria is the EU member state with the largest national minority in Ukraine where our diaspora exceeds 250,000 and emphasized that for this reason it is strongly in the interest of Bulgaria to have peace and the best opportunities for the recovery of Ukraine. “Bulgaria stands ready to work energetically and is firmly committed to this process,” Prime Minister Rumen Radev said.