Bulgaria's President Georgi Parvanov (left) and the former French President Val?©ry Giscard d'Estaing took part Tuesday at the Spring for Europe forum in the National Theater in Sofia. Photo by BGNES
Bulgaria's President Georgi Parvanov said Tuesday that after a period of certain laxity the country was not mobilized again to achieve its goals as a EU member.
The President delivered a speech during the "Spring for Europe" forum organized by the French and German Embassies in Sofia, and the Robert Schumann and Konrad Adenauer foundations, and attended by the former French President and EU proponent ValГ©ry Giscard d'Estaing, Bulgaria's EU Commissioner Meglena Kuneva, the country's former President Zhelyu Zhelev, and former tsar and PM Simeon Saxe-Coburg among others.
The President was explicit that the Bulgaria's government was highly motivated to tackle any defects in the present system and had the political will to achieve progress.
He did not miss to mention that now that it was mobilized, Bulgaria relied heavily on the support of its EU partners.
Parvanov pointed to the recent new measures in the justice system and the management of the absorption of EU funds as important guarantees for the success of the reform process. At the same time, a number of deficiencies in the communication with EU are being addressed, and critical structure reforms are being carried out.
"We are doing all this in the first place because of the Bulgarian citizens so they can feel in their everyday life the pride and privilege of being a citizen of Europe", the President declared.
During his speech in the conference dedicated to the future of the EU, Parvanov emphasized the European citizens expected mainly more democracy, communication, and transparency, and most importantly a united EU close to them, citing the new Lisbon Reform Treaty as an example of the civil society influences.
In his speech at the event, the former French President ValГ©ry Giscard d'Estaing pointed out that Bulgaria already realized its responsibilities as a EU member despite being a very young member and despite certain difficulties such as the justice and internal affairs issues.
D'Estaing pointed to the Bulgarian Commissioner Meglena Kuneva as an example of Bulgaria's positive contribution in the EU structures.
In his words, Bulgaria could prove valuable for the Union by contributing to its main purpose - its unity.