Second day of the summit of European Union leaders in Brussels, at which Bulgaria is represented by Prime Minister Rumen Radev.
Last night, Radev met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The two discussed the possibilities for industrial partnership between Bulgaria and Ukraine and cooperation in the production of drones.
The leaders of the European Union countries expressed full support for Ukraine's accession to the European Union. The country, together with Moldova, officially began membership negotiations and opened the first negotiation chapters. Kiev hopes that all negotiation topics will be opened by the beginning of the summer.
The European leaders also supported the possibility of diplomatic interaction with Russia to achieve lasting peace in Ukraine. They extended the sanctions against Russia by 6 months. Bulgaria announced that it would block the new 21st package if the Russian Patriarch Kirill is not removed from it.
Today, the summit continues with talks on the multiannual financial framework of the union.
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the EC: “The Russian economy is suffering. The fact that Russia has closed the internet, closed Telegram, for example, speaks for itself, because Russia is again raising an iron curtain, but now it is a digital iron curtain on its people.“
Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine: “The first negotiating cluster has been opened, thank you to all the leaders for the unanimity. Unanimity is a wonderful thing. The first cluster is related to the fundamental issues. We will discuss the next five very important, also historic steps for Ukraine. These are the next five clusters.“