Statement by President von der Leyen with Bulgarian Prime Minister Radev

Dear Prime Minister Radev,

It is a great pleasure to welcome you again to the Berlaymont today. This has been a very important year for Bulgaria. Since January, the euro is brining benefits to Bulgaria, making payments and travel easier for people. And it is allowing companies to take full advantage of our common Single Market. Two out of three Bulgarians consider that the transition to the euro has been smooth and efficient. This is a shared success. Congratulations also on your win in the parliamentary elections. It can bring much-needed stability to the Bulgarian people and to the region.

Today, we have exchanged views on several strategic priorities to ensure our long-term prosperity and shared security. First, we of course discussed many of the upcoming reforms. Our NextGenerationEU programme is brining real impact on the ground. Thanks to it, Bulgaria has already received nearly EUR 3.3 billion in funding. But we all know that there is the deadline in August 2026. So, the goal is to unlock resources by then. For this, we must maintain momentum on reforms. Here I want to highlight the good progress made by Bulgaria in anti-corruption. The establishment of the Anti-corruption Commission is key to effectively pursue corruption at all levels. What really matters is that it can do this work in an independent manner. In this context, I very much welcome that the legislative process is already well underway. Your government is therefore delivering on this significant milestone. Another important step in anti-corruption is the reorganisation of the Prosecutor General's office. The aim is to strengthen its position for successful anti-corruption investigations. Both pillars together will allow to unlock almost EUR 370 million of suspended funding for Bulgaria. This is good news for Bulgaria, it is good news for Europe as anti-corruption is a key deliverable for the European Union.

The second big reform topic we have discussed is making the Bulgarian energy system fit for the future. There will be a strengthening of the profitable part of the state-owned Bulgarian Energy Holding, in particular the part that is producing clean energy. The reform is a major step for the improvement of the Bulgarian energy system. Here the Commission will play its part. We will support you and the region with the Just Transition Fund. Because the clean energy transition must benefit every part of Europe and reach every citizen. With the new jobs, growth and investment that go with it. This reform is linked to important resources for Bulgaria under NextGenerationEU. In total, there are EUR 1.2 billion in the plan for clean energy investments in Bulgaria.

Then we also spoke about the next long-term budget. We need a modern, flexible budget that empowers our regions, supports our farmers and protects our citizens. It is vital that we reach a comprehensive agreement on the MFF before the end of this year.

We also discussed geopolitics. We share a firm commitment to reach a lasting diplomatic solution for the Middle East. Finally, we spoke about the security challenges on our borders and Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. From air raid alerts to Russia's deliberate hybrid attacks – the security threats on our eastern border are testing Europe as a whole. Bulgaria has a crucial role to play in our collective defence, in particular in our Eastern Flank Watch. We will support Bulgaria with more than EUR 3.2 billion under SAFE as we just discussed. And we are ready to sign our loan agreement with Bulgaria at any time.

Dear Rumen,

I look forward to our continued cooperation and to discussing many of these critical topics at our European Council sessions.