Friday

29th Sep 2023

Bulgarian PM criticises France and Germany for accepting Crimea annexation

  • Borisov - critical of the fact that the West no longer talks about Crimea (Photo: European People's Party)

Bulgaria’s prime minister Boiko Borisov has criticised the leaders of Germany and France for de facto accepting Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Black Sea peninsula of Crimea.

“On a purely diplomatic level, this move [the annexation] will always be protested but somehow the western world swallowed Crimea”, Borisov told the Sofia-based TV+.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

Borisov added that the West would never utter “in its diplomatic language that it has stomached Crimea” but that it actually had because of “the very fact that the Crimea is never mentioned when we speak about the Minsk agreement”.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande flew to the Belarus capital of Minsk in February to forge a ceasefire after lengthy negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko.

The two western leaders, who invested a lot of political capital into the trip, were trying to prevent the ethnic Russian armed insurgency in eastern Ukraine from escalating into a full-fledged war.

However the accord has been criticised for the concessions it made to the Kremlin-backed separatists that could open the way to self-rule and secession from the pro-western government in Kiev.

Borisov, a centre-right leader, who at home makes much of his cordial ties with fellow conservative Merkel, noted that both she and Hollande, the two most powerful leaders in the EU, had to travel to see Putin and make concessions to reach an accord with him.

Asked by the moderator to clarify whether he really meant that the West has tacitly “swallowed” Putin’s annexation of the Crimea, Borisov said: “How should I put it? It has not swallowed it but we have stopped at the Minsk agreement.”

Sofia analysts have often described Borisov as an opportunist keen to turn any way that will win him voters’ sympathies.

He has, on the one hand, followed a pro-western and pro-European line in championing strict fiscal discipline, cancelling two controversial Russian energy projects in Bulgaria and supporting US and EU sanctions against Russia.

On the other hand, he has never lost sight of the largely Russophile public in Bulgaria and has vocally complained about the economic costs of the sanctions, particularly arising from the loss of Russian holiday-makers.

They make up the largest clientele of Bulgaria’s tourist sector, which accounts for 15 percent of the country’s GDP.

Feature

Crimeans seek stable life under Russian control

Since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, there has been a somewhat mixed reaction to the increased Russian presence on the peninsula. Some welcome it, others reject it in hushed voices.

Opinion

How do you make embarrassing EU documents 'disappear'?

The EU Commission's new magic formula for avoiding scrutiny is simple. You declare the documents in question to be "short-lived correspondence for a preliminary exchange of views" and thus exempt them from being logged in the official inventory.

Column

Will Poles vote for the end of democracy?

International media must make clear that these are not fair, democratic elections. The flawed race should be the story at least as much as the race itself.

Latest News

  1. Poland's culture of fear after three years of abortion 'ban'
  2. Time for a reset: EU regional funding needs overhauling
  3. Germany tightens police checks on Czech and Polish border
  4. EU Ombudsman warns of 'new normal' of crisis decision-making
  5. How do you make embarrassing EU documents 'disappear'?
  6. Resurgent Fico hopes for Slovak comeback at Saturday's election
  7. EU and US urge Azerbijan to allow aid access to Armenians
  8. EU warns of Russian 'mass manipulation' as elections loom

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators, industry & healthcare experts at the 24th IMDRF session, September 25-26, Berlin. Register by 20 Sept to join in person or online.
  2. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  3. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  4. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators & industry experts at the 24th IMDRF session- Berlin September 25-26. Register early for discounted hotel rates
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch
  6. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us