The Black Sea Economic Cooperation was established on the brink of the 21^st century. It united twelve countries situated around and close to the Black Sea coast - Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine. This cooperation became possible after the end of the Cold War. On June 19 the coastal resort of Golden Sands is to host the next sitting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Black Sea countries. The event will mark the end of the six-month Bulgarian Presidency of BSEC which went under the motto “Better synergy for enhanced competitiveness”.

Ambassador Branimir Radev who represents Bulgaria at the BSEC headquarters in Istanbul stressed in an interview for Radio Bulgaria on the huge economic potential of the Black Sea region which was unfortunately charged with historical controversy. It is enough to mention the current tension between two Black Sea countries - Russia and Ukraine.

“This is a diverse region with many serious historical burdens and current problems. However, it has a huge economic potential. It is also a very important transit region with many unused opportunities. The region links the northern parts of Europe with the Southern states. It is also well-connected with the Caucasian region, the Caspian sea and Central Asia. In this connection, the Black Sea region is exceptionally interesting and has very huge potential.”

The development of the transport cooperation between the Black Sea countries was one of the main priorities of the Bulgarian Presidency, Ambassador Radev further added. One of the meetings of the BSEC in the first half of 2014 was dedicated to this topic. Another important accent fell on the cooperation opportunities with the EU based on “practical dialogue” between both organizations. The Black Sea countries were and remain to a great extent neglected and remote from the EU in terms of foreign policy. The accession of two Black Sea states Romania and Bulgaria to the EU in 2007 boosted the relations with the European Union.

“We are doing our best to promote dialogue”, says Mr Radev. However, in all honesty this was not the right moment, because the EU was practically in election campaign since the beginning of 2014. However, Greece is to take the presidency of the BSEC from Bulgaria, followed later by Moldova and Romania. So, all three EU member states which are also part of the BSEC are to take the Presidency within three years time. In our view, this is a very important moment which has to be used successfully for the future development of the relations between the BSEC states and the EU in the economy field. The countries which are both members of the EU and BSEC had to come with a concrete stand. I have to say that the start of such collaboration has already been given. We work well with Romania and Greece and join efforts to persuade other EU countries with the huge benefit of the economic cooperation with the Black Sea region.”

Ambassador Branimir Radev is satisfied with the achievements regarding the other top priority of the Bulgarian Presidency- cooperation in the youth and sports field. We entirely agree with Mr Radev that bridging young people in a region with historical contradiction guarantees a better future.

“I would accentuate on the young people, although sports is also important in the cooperation process. A very useful meting between Ministers of Youth and Sport from the region was organized from the Bulgarian Ministry of Sport in the former royal residence Euksinovgrad at the end of April, 2014. We are to continue working in this direction and will stress on the children’s issues with a glance in the future of this region. We will do our best to create proper conditions and a better future for our children and young people and try to keep them in our countries where they could make career.”

English version: Kostadin Atanasov