Everything that happens in the European agenda has an impact. It is part of the Bulgarian national agenda. European issues cannot be external to Bulgaria.
This is what Ilhan Kyuchyuk, a candidate for the European Parliament (EP) from Renew Europe / MRF, said, BGNES reports.
On the occasion of Europe Day, Ilhan Kyuchyuk attended the public discussion on "European Dialogue: Ideas for a Better Europe", organized by the National Student Conference together with the European Youth Movement and the Union of European Federalists.
"We have problems. Our first problem is that in Bulgaria we produce elections very often, and this time we produced two elections in one day," Kyuchyuk said, adding that this means two campaigns, which in principle should not be very different.
Kyuchyuk stressed that European issues cannot be external to Bulgaria. "In its foreign policy, the European Union (EU) can have relations with Turkey, with China or with any other country that is not part of the EU. But European issues can only be internal," he added.
Kyuchyuk also gave concrete examples. "We do not stop talking about the Schengen issue because it is relevant to the Bulgarian economy, to our competitiveness, to our national self-confidence. When we saw at the end of the last term how important it is to grasp a European legislation from the very beginning, to follow it up, if it can be amended to work for the Bulgarian national interest," he pointed out and drew attention to how often Bulgarian MPs adopt legislation that is itself European legislation.
Kyuchyuk is adamant that the myth that European issues are external to us must be broken.
The second myth that will prevail in this election campaign, according to him, is "Brussels dictates" regarding "green" fundamentalism, regarding the LGBT+ community, and immigration policy.
"What is this rhetoric, when Bulgaria has representatives in all forums? If something is decided in a format where foreign ministers meet, the Bulgarian foreign minister is there. When the heavy issues related to the future of energy policy are discussed, the Bulgarian energy minister is there, whether he is a caretaker or a regular minister", Kyuchyuk stressed and clarified that Bulgaria is part of this decision-making mechanism.
There is also a need to change the logic of the functioning of European institutions and the way we perceive the democratic process in the EU itself, he stated.
"We need competent people, people with a backbone, people who understand the European matter, not to deny it, not to go into populism, not to say this is unimportant for Bulgaria. Everything is important for Bulgaria", Kyuchyuk added, noting that everything that happens in the European agenda has an impact, it is part of the Bulgarian national agenda.
His main message to young people, with which Kyuchyuk concluded, is: "Be active. Vote for whoever you want. Decide how to do it in this election, but the important thing is to participate so that Bulgaria can show that it is not in last place in everything, especially when we are talking about such an important moment for the future of European structure". /BGNES
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