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Bulgarian premier delivers lecture on EU integration, reforms in Strasbourg
BTA website, Sofia
10 Jul 06
Strasbourg/Sofia, 10 July: "Europe must be confident to continue the
EU enlargement, the prospective members need political commitments
and assistance:" this was the highlight of a nearly hour-long lecture
that Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev delivered within the
framework of at the concluding seminar of the Summer University for
Democracy in Strasbourg on Monday [10 July], the Government Information
Service said in a press release.
Within this context, the PM said that Bulgaria firmly supports the
Western Balkans' EU integration. He expressed his conviction that the
policy of integration with the Western Balkans will be a clear sign of
the EU's new capabilities, especially concerning the important role of
regional cooperation. "It is a sine qua non condition for membership
and for the membership prospect, which is why the EU should outline
a clear European perspective for the Western Balkans," Stanishev
said. He expressed the opinion that the European Constitution fell
victim to the inadequate communication and to the negative public
moods in the EU, due to insufficient information on the essence of
that instrument. Institutions at all levels therefore need to engage
in vigorous dialogue with citizens, the prime minister said.
"A stable democracy should have shared values, ideas and a critical
mass of public support and participation," the Bulgarian head
of government said. "A lot of people want to get involved in the
democratic process, and freedom of speech is not enough in this
sense. It also takes responsibility and accountability. A multi-party
system and free-elections are not enough, either: what really matters
is the rule of law," Stanishev stressed in his lecture. "We are
witnessing a number of institutional problems, but the EU impact
instruments seem insufficient and, therefore, the worst problem to
my mind is the lack
of communication and dialogue with citizens," he added.
The prime minister expressed the opinion that the ever decreasing
participation of people in political life makes it possible for
populism to find ever broader support in the countries of Central and
Eastern Europe, even though it does not propose feasible solutions
to problems. "At the same time, however, the space of democracy has
expanded, and this is an enormous success for Europe," he noted. "The
societies of Central and Eastern Europe thus got closer to the
democratic traditions and to one another, and EU integration became
a model and a factor of change. The very fact of harmonization of
legislation is a major success," the prime minister said. Stressing
that the democratic European societies need more common policies and
a balance between values and changes, he expressed his categorical
conviction that Europe can achieve this goal. In his lecture Stanishev
also analysed the problems of globalization, arguing that Europe must
make efforts at the economic as well as the political level.
The prime minister answered exhaustively the numerous questions
he was asked by the participants in the Summer University for
Democracy. Replying to a question, he reiterated that the reform
process in Bulgaria will continue even after 1 January 2007 in close
cooperation with the European Commission. "Some things remain to be
done, but with the help of the European institutions and internal
pressure, say, by the strong media in Bulgaria which are independent
from the government, I believe that we will achieve a positive
result," the
prime minister said.
Later in the day, Stanishev attended a formal luncheon hosted by
Council of Europe Secretary-General Terry Davis. The first school was
founded in Moscow in 1992, to train the new generation of political,
economic, social and cultural leaders. It is not an academic study
course as such, but a series of seminars and annual conferences
on such themes as European integration, democracy, human rights,
the rule of law and globalisation. The annual programme includes
national activities and a closing session at the Council of Europe's
headquarters in Strasbourg. At present 11 schools are operating
in Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria,
Serbia, Kosovo/UNMIK, "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" and
Croatia. New schools are in the process of constitution in Albania,
Azerbaijan, and Bosnia and Hercegovina.
BTA website, Sofia
10 Jul 06
Strasbourg/Sofia, 10 July: "Europe must be confident to continue the
EU enlargement, the prospective members need political commitments
and assistance:" this was the highlight of a nearly hour-long lecture
that Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev delivered within the
framework of at the concluding seminar of the Summer University for
Democracy in Strasbourg on Monday [10 July], the Government Information
Service said in a press release.
Within this context, the PM said that Bulgaria firmly supports the
Western Balkans' EU integration. He expressed his conviction that the
policy of integration with the Western Balkans will be a clear sign of
the EU's new capabilities, especially concerning the important role of
regional cooperation. "It is a sine qua non condition for membership
and for the membership prospect, which is why the EU should outline
a clear European perspective for the Western Balkans," Stanishev
said. He expressed the opinion that the European Constitution fell
victim to the inadequate communication and to the negative public
moods in the EU, due to insufficient information on the essence of
that instrument. Institutions at all levels therefore need to engage
in vigorous dialogue with citizens, the prime minister said.
"A stable democracy should have shared values, ideas and a critical
mass of public support and participation," the Bulgarian head
of government said. "A lot of people want to get involved in the
democratic process, and freedom of speech is not enough in this
sense. It also takes responsibility and accountability. A multi-party
system and free-elections are not enough, either: what really matters
is the rule of law," Stanishev stressed in his lecture. "We are
witnessing a number of institutional problems, but the EU impact
instruments seem insufficient and, therefore, the worst problem to
my mind is the lack
of communication and dialogue with citizens," he added.
The prime minister expressed the opinion that the ever decreasing
participation of people in political life makes it possible for
populism to find ever broader support in the countries of Central and
Eastern Europe, even though it does not propose feasible solutions
to problems. "At the same time, however, the space of democracy has
expanded, and this is an enormous success for Europe," he noted. "The
societies of Central and Eastern Europe thus got closer to the
democratic traditions and to one another, and EU integration became
a model and a factor of change. The very fact of harmonization of
legislation is a major success," the prime minister said. Stressing
that the democratic European societies need more common policies and
a balance between values and changes, he expressed his categorical
conviction that Europe can achieve this goal. In his lecture Stanishev
also analysed the problems of globalization, arguing that Europe must
make efforts at the economic as well as the political level.
The prime minister answered exhaustively the numerous questions
he was asked by the participants in the Summer University for
Democracy. Replying to a question, he reiterated that the reform
process in Bulgaria will continue even after 1 January 2007 in close
cooperation with the European Commission. "Some things remain to be
done, but with the help of the European institutions and internal
pressure, say, by the strong media in Bulgaria which are independent
from the government, I believe that we will achieve a positive
result," the
prime minister said.
Later in the day, Stanishev attended a formal luncheon hosted by
Council of Europe Secretary-General Terry Davis. The first school was
founded in Moscow in 1992, to train the new generation of political,
economic, social and cultural leaders. It is not an academic study
course as such, but a series of seminars and annual conferences
on such themes as European integration, democracy, human rights,
the rule of law and globalisation. The annual programme includes
national activities and a closing session at the Council of Europe's
headquarters in Strasbourg. At present 11 schools are operating
in Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria,
Serbia, Kosovo/UNMIK, "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" and
Croatia. New schools are in the process of constitution in Albania,
Azerbaijan, and Bosnia and Hercegovina.