While attending the recent Munich Security Conference, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev held a series of bilateral meetings. Talks of the head of state were followed with strong interest in the context of the pre-election situation in Bulgaria in which the focus of the president is not only his representative function but above all his role in the Executive following the appointment of a caretaker government by him.

Speculations that the president would be likely to stress the need of lifting anti-Russia sanctions have turned wrong. In an interview for Euronews released ahead of the Munich Conference Rumen Radev said the following: “The big question is how long Europe will remain divided by sanctions which undermine trust.” During talks with the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini and with European Commissioner Johannes Hahn Radev emphasized the problems of the migration crisis while avoiding the issue of lifting sanctions which probably implies that Sofia has taken up a wait-and-see position where sanctions are concerned.

In the context of the changes in the Executive in Sofia there has been stronger sensitivity both at home and internationally about issues related to Bulgaria's EU rotating presidency in 2018, more notably its priorities. In Munich President Radev made clear the presidency would focus on regional cooperation in the Balkans and on EU enlargement policies. Bulgaria is set to continue its support for Croatia's The Three Seas Initiative aimed to strengthen energy, transport and digital connectivity of the countries in the regions of the Adriatic, the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea. Confirming this point, President Radev accepted the invitation of his Polish counterpart to represent Bulgaria at the second meeting of The Three Seas Initiative. Organized by Croatia and Poland it is due in the Polish city of Wroclaw and its agenda includes the signature of the first agreements for upgrading the regional energy and transport infrastructure. Confirming Bulgaria's commitment to energy diversification policies, in Munich Radev also spoke up in favor of expanding the energy networks along the North-South corridor and of building an energy infrastructure that will connect Bulgaria with Poland.

In the course of one month after taking office the new president of Bulgaria first met for talks with the leaderships of the EU and NATO, then with the leadership of Germany, and now in Munich he met with and reached first agreements with his counterparts from Poland /Andrzej Duda/, Croatia /Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović/, Estonia /Kersti Kaljulaid/ and Azerbaijan /Ilham Aliyev/. He also met with US Senator John McCain for talks on issues of bilateral partnership with the United States, and there are further visits in the pipeline.

The intensity of the president's international agenda is impressive, but it is more important to see statements and positions voiced during those contacts to become part of the policies of the new regular Bulgarian government which will take office after the snap parliamentary elections at the end of March.

English Daniela Konstantinova