"All crises that we face in Europe can be solved only via a common European approach, only by acting together," President Rosen Plevneliev said in his speech at the opening of a summit in Sofia entitled "New Visions for Partnership and Neighbourhood for Europe". The two-day forum is held under the patronage of the head of state and is organized by the Petar Stoyanov Centre for Political Dialogue and the Nizami Ganjavi International Centre. The forum brought together current and former state and government leaders from the region to discuss measures to deal with the migratory pressure and the resulting economic, political and humanitarian issues.

Migration, terrorism, economic and political instability - these are the challenges Europe is facing, said President Plevneliev: "The continuing conflicts in Syria, the Middle East and North Africa threaten the lives of millions of people. The deteriorating humanitarian situation in several conflict areas is forcing millions of people to leave their homes, to pack their lives in a suitcase and take on the dangerous and sometimes deadly path to salvation. Hundreds of thousands of people stand on the threshold of Europe, reaching out for help, fighting for their right to live.”

The building of fences and borders is only a temporary solution, said the Bulgarian head of state, stressing that the EU acts against itself. "With every piece of new fence, the mutual blockades of borders, with barbed wire, with water cannons and tear gas used against the refugees and then in the heart of Europe, the EU stands against its own rules, against its own values and identity”, Plevneliev argued.

Rosen Plevneliev gave as an example the functioning of the Schengen area as a barometer for the state of the bloc. "Schengen is the dream of a Europe without borders. We, Eastern Europeans, best understand it because we were behind the "Iron curtain" until 25 years ago. Today, however, some EU countries impose interim suspension of the Schengen rules. Schengen is now placed in danger”, he said.

The head of state pointed out that a fight with the causes is needed rather than with the consequences, suggesting that a system should be established in the UN for early identification of crises in order to protect the rule of law and human rights.

President Plevneliev believes that terrorists will be defeated by the combined forces of the anti-terrorist coalition, but warned: "The ideology of the terrorists is not crushed by arms. It can be defeated with better ideas. Terrorism has no religion. It can be defeated by people with morality, believing in tolerance and in a dialogue with those who are different”.

After the Ukrainian conflict the world is in a state of "cold peace". There are frozen conflicts and frozen states, as is the case with Ukraine, said the head of state and stressed that "the Balkans are the place where Europe must show that it has learned its lessons from the Ukrainian crisis - the factor that changed the geopolitical balance of our continent." In the words of Rosen Plevneliev, Moscow puts the Balkans at the center of its geopolitical interests, as this could lead to instability.

Macedonia’s President Gjorge Ivanov spoke about the problem of refugees and the attitude of Europe. Pointing out that the "Iron curtain" dividing Europe did not last even for half a century, he noted: "Unfortunately, Europe could not last even 30 years without building fences. The physical fences that are now springing up in Europe arise as a result of the mental barriers, prejudices, xenophobia, and fear of difference."

Macedonia’s President Gjorge Ivanov highlighted the importance of solidarity with the weak, the feeble and the oppressed ones.

Solidarity with refugees and not only in abstract, but also in concrete terms - this was demanded by Vaira Vike-Freiberga, President of Latvia (1999-2007) and co-chair of the Nizami Gandjavi International Center. In her words, Europe is currently in a period in which we rethink which are those strong foundations on which we are standing, and how to keep them. "Europe should remember its history and its roots, and that includes topics such as how to accept refugees."

English Rossitsa Petcova