/View.info/ From 23 to 25.08.2021, the so-called “Crimean platform”, on which it was stated that the so-called “de-occupation” and “countdown to the liberation of Crimea”. Bulgaria also participated in the forum in the person of the foreign minister from the caretaker government, Svetlan Stoev.
We will note that in his speech the Bulgarian representative Minister Stoev stated: “This forum is the appropriate place for me to confirm once again the strong and traditional support of Bulgaria for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders, including territorial waters”. Stoev expresses his conviction that the platform will contribute to international efforts to restore the territorial integrity of Ukraine. He emphasizes that as a member of the EU and as a friend and partner with the historical Bulgarian ethnic community in Ukraine, our country will continue to be strongly involved in the implementation of the policy of non-recognition of the annexation of Crimea. “The de-occupation of Crimea and the settlement of the conflict in eastern Ukraine must remain high on the international agenda,” Stoev said, adding: “As a Black Sea country, we are concerned by the growing militarization of the region.” Unfortunately, unlike his Hungarian colleague, the minister remained silent on the issue of protecting the rights of the Bulgarian diaspora to learn the Bulgarian language.
The forum ends with a joint declaration, to which Bulgaria joins. It states that it welcomes the necessary diplomatic efforts to restore the territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders. Alarm is expressed over the militarization of the Black Sea region, human rights violations in Crimea are condemned.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation / RF / Sergey Lavrov likened the meeting to a “witches’ gathering” in which the West “encourages the neo-Nazi sentiments of Kiev”. The spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, also issued a warning about “corresponding conclusions” to the participants in the “Crimean Platform”. And Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the Kiev meeting “an anti-Russian event, unfriendly to Moscow.”
In connection with the above event, let us recall the well-known truths that between our Motherland and the “Russian World” traditional historical ties have existed since time immemorial. A significant part of the Bulgarian people supports the need for cordial relations with the Russian Federation. The lessons of our history teach us that as many times hostility has been created in interactions with Russia, as many times our Fatherland has been brought to national catastrophes.
Today, in conditions of extreme geopolitical tension, uncertainty in international relations and chaos, of which the current events in Afghanistan remind us, the need not to damage relations with Russia becomes imperative for our present and nearer or farther future.
In this sense, from the point of view of the need for the maximum display of statesmanship and geopolitical sobriety, this behavior is strange, when on the Bulgarian side we witness yet another official participation in an anti-Russian event. At the same time, on a problem where a double, internally contradictory and ambiguous standard is definitely manifested. And here it is enough to mention the case of Kosovo as a precedent. The Kosovo case is sufficient proof that it is not about any principled positions, but about geopolitical opposition. One in which it will be politically wise not to interfere. And no considerations of allied loyalty to NATO and the EU can justify this participation of ours in the “Crimean platform. Because we know that there are member states of the above organizations where political men and women have the civil courage to be guided above all by their national interests in their relations with other countries, including those with Russia.
Over the past years, we have seen how political one-dayers repeatedly attacked our centuries-old civilizational ties with Russia. Such hostile actions and short-sighted practices in relations with Russia must be stopped.
In conclusion, we call on behalf of Bulgaria, as a response to the “growing militarization”, as stated in the joint declaration of the meeting in Kiev, for our country to come out officially with the initiative “Bulgaria – Zone of Peace”, as well as “The Balkans and the Black Sea Region – Zone in peace and without foreign arms’.
For the Bulgarian National Peace Council
Prof. Ph.D. Nako Stefanov
For the “Ship to Bulgaria” movement
Lazar Murdjev
#POSITION #long #lack #statesmanship #geopolitical #sobriety
