President Plevneliev: Bulgaria Backs EU Decisions on Ukraine

President Rosen Plevneliev has emphasized the clear and unambiguous support of Bulgaria for all decisions of the EU and the European Parliament in an interview for Deustchlandfunk.

Asked to comment on the crisis in Ukraine, he noted that Russia's annexation of Crimea had questioned the very foundations of the system of international law.

Plevneliev insisted that EU member states had to stick together because all of them were weak by themselves but together they constituted a factor of global importance.

Bulgaria's head of state underscored that Russia's annexation of Crimea had to make the European Union seek answers about "something that happens for the first time in 60 years on our continent, namely a policy which brings us back to the 19th century, when the Great Powers made decisions on small countries."

"This policy must remain in the 19th century. In the 21st century we stick to human rights, democracy and the voice of the people. The future of Ukraine should not be decided by one or two Great Powers, but by the Ukrainian population," Plevneliev stated.

He claimed that the best solution for Ukraine involved allowing the Ukrainian people to decide their fate at the presidential elections on May 25 or possibly at a referendum.

He underscored the powerful attempts to destabilize Ukraine just before the elections, warning that the dangerous policy could affect other countries too.

Stressing that a positive trend for peaceful cooperation and economic development was discernible in Southeastern Europe, he remarked that the achievements could also be challenged by attempts at destabilization.

"Our analysis shows that the Kremlin does not want a war either, but they want a...