"The real power and effect of diplomacy is when it comes before the bombs and prevents them, not after the devastation and casualties".

This is what Bulgarian President Rumen Radev said during the "War and Peace: Will the Time of Diplomacy Come?" conference, quoted by BTA.

The event is organized by the Institute of Economics and International Relations and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.

"If we look back into the past, we shall see that mankind has lived a negligible period in universal peace, while wars have been an invariable companion throughout its history. Therefore, the question of why, after more than seven decades of sustainable peace in Europe and the absence of a global military conflict, the war is raging again, is particularly worrying," commented Radev. Even during the Cold War, there were ongoing processes of upgrading the global security system.

According to him, the world is reformatting with unstoppable steps. The shift of political and economic centers to the east, the new global ambitions of a number of countries, the weakening of the role of the UN in preventing and resolving conflicts, the rise of dictatorial regimes, a number of regional groupings that openly reject the unipolar model and stand for a new multipolar world - all this is part of a complex and difficult transition, in which we are witnessing how the power of law increasingly gives way to the right of power and how the politics of peace disappear from the scene, and how war returns as a means of resolving conflicts, and in Europe, the president explained.

According to him, Russia's aggression against Ukraine unleashed the collapse of the global security system, built over decades. Our great goal is the restoration of peace in both Europe and the Middle East, but achieving these goals requires us to have an objective and impartial view first of all on the war in Ukraine and a deep and objective analysis of the factors that drive the armed conflict, said the head of state.

The president said he told his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky when he was visiting Bulgaria that the armed conflict in Ukraine has no military solution and the only way is to sit down at the negotiating table and think about a rational formula for peace.

We have before us a very complex diplomatic dilemma. If this war is not ended by a negotiated ceasefire, the casualties and destruction will rise, and at an even greater rate. But if Ukraine and the civilized world put up with the territories taken away by force, it means that we accept that in our time it is possible to solve such issues by force. This is a great dilemma, it is the cornerstone of all diplomatic efforts. It is necessary to find such an exchange coin that guarantees the security of both countries, comments Rumen Radev.

We must accept that the time has really come to seek peace through diplomatic and political means, but in no case does this mean retreating from the aggressor, the president added.

The greatest test and fundamental question, so that all others can be solved, is to answer ourselves how precious human life is to us. And today hundreds of people will die in Ukraine. We should apply the same approach to the war between the terrorist group Hamas and Israel. The majority of countries have already supported the right of the State of Israel to self-defense, but this right must be exercised through strict observance of international law and must not lead to a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, Radev also said.

According to the president, politics and diplomacy will find more and more space in the dynamics of modern geopolitical processes and conflicts.

Diplomacy paves the way for predictability in international relations, and for this reason it is of key importance for a small country like Bulgaria to be an active part of all efforts to elevate the role of international cooperation to bring together the forces that are ready to build a new security system. based on clear rules. Bulgaria must develop its capacity so that it can actively contribute to NATO and the EU to find consensus solutions and to defend our interest, Rumen Radev also said.

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