Ivaylo Kalfin

Ivaylo Georgiev Kalfin was born on May 30, 1964 in Sofia. He graduated from the 9th French in 1983. He is a former deputy prime minister and foreign and social minister.

He was also an MEP.

He is currently the executive director of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Working and Living Conditions.


- Mr. Kalfin, these days the Bulgarian and world media celebrated 1 year since the beginning of hostilities in Ukraine.

Are there any lessons that you think politicians, humanity in general, have learned?

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One of the bad traits of individuals and the collective mind is that the horrors of the past when there was war are very quickly forgotten.

I think it is now clear to everyone that there is a war.

There is no good or bad war, many peaceful and innocent people die in it and politicians are obliged to take measures to avoid this at all costs.

- What should be our position in this world conflict?

Our society is divided over the supply of arms to Ukraine.

- This war started because Russia entered the territory of Ukraine.

There have been no territorial wars in Europe since World War II.

This is a precedent.

In this case, Ukraine is defending its territory from Russia, which is bigger, with more opportunities, etc.. However, the question is whether this is permissible!

It is not, and that is why the international community must help preserve globally recognized borders.

In this sense, in my opinion, aid to Ukraine is not direct involvement in the conflict, but simply aid to the weaker.

- Were the Minsk agreements violated, in your opinion?

- The Minsk agreements were violated by both sides.

Russia participated in them only as an observer, saying from the sidelines that Ukraine should come to an agreement with the republics in which the majority of the population is Russian - DPR and LPR.

The violation started in 2014.

But these are not the first agreements that are not respected and it is normal in such cases that corrections follow so that they become enforceable.

But the Minsk agreements were not respected, they were violated by all the countries that participated in them.

But...they shouldn't necessarily lead to war in their wake.

- Will the war be a reason for reshaping and restructuring the existing unions, alliances, borders, affiliations?

- Yes, Russia's behavior raised many questions in post-war Europe, and primarily its security architecture was called into question.

Before the war, for example, there was no thought about the inclusion of Finland and Sweden in NATO.

Russia managed to create around itself a circle of countries that are very wary and hostile towards it.

This is a fact that will take many years and efforts to change.

Ivaylo Kalfin

Ivaylo Georgiev Kalfin was born on May 30, 1964 in Sofia. In 1983 he graduated from the 9th French.jpg" />

-Again from the sphere of foreign policy - why, in your opinion, despite our obedience, we were not accepted either in Schengen or in the Eurozone?

- Let me emphasize that the war has nothing to do with our not being accepted into Schengen and the Eurozone.

Regarding Schengen, I can confirm that Bulgaria has fulfilled all criteria for more than 10 years.

However, it is a fact that some European countries are solving their internal problems with positions to stop our country from Schengen, claiming that in this way they better protect their own borders.

But I argue that this is not true.

The so-called "Balkan refugee route" does not pass through Bulgaria and Romania, but bypasses them.

But unfortunately, the Netherlands and Austria, which have internal unresolved problems, prevailed over their objectivity.

The EC and other European institutions have said very clearly that Bulgaria is absolutely ready.

With regard to the Eurozone, however, the matter is different.

We ourselves announced a too accelerated timetable for entering the Eurozone and waited for dates... But before "

It is not bad for our politicians to think seriously about the lack of dialogue between them.

Our institutions are not particularly convincing, and believe me, this is noticed immediately by our European partners.

It is not bad for our politicians to think seriously about the lack of dialogue between them.

Our institutions are not particularly convincing, and believe me, this is noticed immediately by our European partners.

Ivaylo Kalfin

politics

war