Radev: ‘Europe can exist without Russia, but it will hardly exist for long against Russia’

“Europe can exist without Russia, but it will hardly exist for long against Russia,” Bulgarian Prime Minister Roumen Radev said during Question Time in Parliament on September 4.

Bulgaria categorically supports Germany and stands by it in response to hybrid and other attacks, Radev said, commenting on the case of a drone with explosives at Leipzig airport and suspicions of Russian interference.

Radev described the case as “extremely worrying” and said he shared the definition of “reckless action” used by the President of the European Commission and the Secretary General of ato regarding Russia’s actions.

“For me, this is truly a reckless action,” Radev said.

Radev sought to defend the reaction of the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry. The September 2 message on X from the ministry stated solidarity with Germany but failed to mention Russia.

He said that the ministry was among the first to react adequately to the case.

“We categorically support our leading ally, economic and investment partner Germany and stand with Germany in response to any hybrid and other attacks,” Radev said.

Regarding the question of why Russia was not directly named as responsible in the Bulgarian position, Radev claimed that the country’s reaction was completely adequate.

He said that European partners had not criticised Bulgaria or the Foreign Ministry.

Radev said that in such cases, political positions are initially expressed, and the specific evidence is provided subsequently by the services. At the moment, he said, the Bulgarian institutions had not received such data.

“After there are political statements, specific facts are already provided by the services. Such specific facts have not yet been received by us by the services,” Radev said.

He raised the question of whether the use of European-made long-range weapons to strike thousands of kilometers deep into Russian territory also poses a serious risk of escalation.

“Isn’t it a reckless act for leading European countries to send their long-range weapons, to attack thousands of kilometres deep into Russian territory – with weapons manufactured in Europe, with their use through information from Europe and instructors from Europe? Isn’t this also reckless?” Radev said.

He called for this issue to be carefully assessed, instead of ignoring what he portrayed as the risks of such actions.

“Let us judge for ourselves, let us not close our eyes. And what can we expect when our long-range weapons are used to attack deep in the rear of another country? Will it stand by or respond? That is the big question,” Radev said.

Europe must begin to assess the risks of the escalation of war much more seriously and return to seeking a negotiated solution as soon as possible, he said.

He said that the West’s attempt to achieve a conventional victory over Russia carries serious risks, given Moscow’s military and nuclear potential.

“The collective West is trying to achieve a conventional victory over Russia, without taking into account the fact that it is the largest nuclear power and we cannot withstand its hypersonic weapons. This is visible every night over Kyiv,” Radev said.

He said that the continuation of the conflict increases the danger of its expansion, which is why European countries must begin to assess the possible consequences much more carefully.

“Europe must finally start calculating the risk and sit down at the negotiating table as soon as possible, because this war is expanding its spatial scope and the risk is growing with each passing day,” Radev said.

He rejected the thesis that Bulgaria must unconditionally follow positions that, in his opinion, could lead to further escalation.

“Europe is not a competition for conformity. And if you insist that Bulgaria must necessarily be part of the escalation, I have no such intentions,” he said.

Radev cited the cases of drones near or on the territory of European countries, pointing to Poland, Romania and Bulgaria.

According to Radev, Bulgaria should be among those that are most persistently working to end the conflict and find a diplomatic solution.

“We must finally insist on other things. And I think that Bulgaria is among those countries that insist that this should stop as soon as possible,” he said.

Radev summed up his position with the words: “In my opinion, Europe can exist without Russia. But Europe will hardly exist for long against Russia.”

(Photo: government.bg)