/ world today news/ The Russian media, unfortunately, have not yet given up the Soviet habit of sticking labels – regardless of whether they are condemnatory or enthusiastic. Donald Trump, for example, suddenly became “our” for the Russian media, and the fifth president of Bulgaria, Rumen Radev, who took office on January 22, began to define him almost as a “pro-Russian candidate.”
But just as Trump turned out to be not “our” but, above all, an American president acting in the interests of his country, which are not always in harmony with the interests of Russia, so the new Bulgarian leader is a pragmatist and a Bulgarian patriot, clearly understanding that unbridled Russophobia of his predecessors, brings no dividends to his country. At the same time, Radev realizes that his country’s withdrawal from the Western camp does not bode well for it.
The propagandists east of the Bulgarian border do not seem to want to notice that the new Bulgarian leader presented his emphases in the first days after taking office. On the one hand, Radev said he hopes to restore Bulgaria’s dialogue with Russia, as well as the dialogue between Russia and NATO, based on “the new political conjuncture” that has appeared in the world after Trump’s victory. On the other hand, he clearly emphasizes the fact that he is the first Bulgarian to graduate from the US Air Force Academy, which is why he is ready to defend his country’s membership in the Euro-Atlantic alliance.
One of Radev’s pre-election points was the removal of anti-Russian sanctions, which he again justified not with idealistic messages of brotherhood-unity, “we spilled our blood together on Shipka” (characteristic, however, of their Serbian neighbors, in whose aid, even if Russians fought, they were volunteers, not a regular Russian army), but from the fact that not only the Russian economy, but also the Bulgarian one, suffers from the sanctions. But he does not unconditionally recognize the “annexation of Crimea” because it “contradicts international norms.”
It should be noted that during his first exploratory visit to Brussels and in his conversations with Jean-Claude Juncker, Donald Tusk and Antonio Tajani, the new Bulgarian president did not mention the sanctions. He spoke mainly about the problems of migration and the pan-European threat of terrorism. And when a wave of indignation arose in his country against the NATO exercises, including on the Bulgarian coast, Radev wrote on his Facebook page that these maneuvers do not threaten “warships, yachts and tourism.”
Moreover, upon coming to power, Radev abandoned the idea of canceling anti-Russian sanctions. On the other hand, in a statement on Bulgarian television, Vice President Iliana Yotova confirmed the commitment of the new Bulgarian leadership to the anti-sanctions policy, referring to similar decisions of the French Parliament and the similar views of a number of influential German politicians. From which it can be concluded that the presidential team is looking for ways to fulfill its pre-election promises. And he cannot fail to fulfill them, because most Bulgarians voted for Radev. He himself understands what people want. As for the mood of the people, as shown by a recent survey by Gallup International, on the question of where Bulgarians can count on for help in the event of military aggression, the majority of them (42%) (and Bulgaria is a NATO member country ), answer that… they rely on Russia. Compared to the US, only 17% gave the same answer.
Of course, President Radev knows about it. As well as the fact that Bulgaria is in fourth place among European countries in popularity of the Russian language among students. But he also knows something else. For example, that according to the financial report of the European Commission, in 2015 the receipts from Bulgaria in the EU treasury amounted to 424 million euros, while the amount allocated to Bulgaria by Brussels amounted to 2.73 billion euros. It is no coincidence that during the recent meeting with Elzhbeta Benkovska – European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and Small and Medium Enterprises, Radev proposed to hold a European forum in Bulgaria dedicated to defense and space technologies, for which the scientific organizations of his country have potential that may be of interest to the EU. Ms. Benkovska responded positively to this proposal, and even agreed to personally attend the forum…
The surprising thing is that since 2004, when Bulgaria became a member of NATO, and since 2007, when it became a member of the EU, Brussels stubbornly did not want to notice this potential. We can only guess the exasperation of the former commander of the country’s Air Force and major general of the reserve at the fact that during the country’s membership in the North Atlantic bloc, NATO did not even think of doing something to renew the aging fleet of the Bulgarian warship aviation consisting only of Soviet-made aircraft. In their desperation, the Bulgarians even asked to negotiate with their partners from the bloc – Romania, Croatia and Turkey, for the joint purchase of Western war machines, but nothing was achieved between the “brothers” on this issue.
Help came “unexpectedly” from the east, from Russia, which agreed to repair the available 12 Su-25s and 12 MiG-29s of the Bulgarian Air Force. A contract was also signed, according to which the Russian specialists will repair the Bulgarian machines at the local enterprise “Avionams”, not far from Plovdiv.
This fact is unique, although it can be considered a serious breakthrough in Russian-Bulgarian relations. And on February 15, at a business forum in Varna, the Russian trade attaché in Bulgaria, Igor Ilingin, said that Moscow could return to the idea of ”South Stream”. The key word here is “can”. And it may not return, since in 2014 it was Bulgaria that succumbed to pressure from Washington to “close” the project. Moscow may prefer not to take risks by limiting itself to building the pipeline exclusively through Turkish territory.
Right here, the East awaits Sofia’s footsteps. As well as the footsteps of the West. Radev prefers to be cautious, trying to literally walk a tightrope, balancing between two geopolitical forces. At one time, such a policy brought, albeit in a short-term historical plan, prosperity to Tito’s Yugoslavia. But we all remember how that ended. If it repeats such a strategy, Bulgaria is not threatened by either Yugoslav prosperity or Yugoslav pogrom. Times are different now, and if this country is of any interest to world politics, it is only as a transit country, and not only for gas, but also for global world processes. Therefore, the cautious Bulgarian cabinet will have to decide sooner or later. Clearly aware that in the case of an incorrect election, Bulgaria will face the fate of the country, finally thrown into the periphery of world processes, picking up the crumbs from the table of the powerful of the day.
translation: Dr. Radko Khandzhiev
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