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A Key Issue for Bulgaria Evgeniy Kandilarov ISSN: 2560-1601 Vol. 28, No. 4 (BG) April 2020 Bulgaria external relations briefing: International Solidarity in a Global Pandemic - A Key Issue for Bulgaria Evgeniy Kandilarov 1052 Budapest Petőfi Sándor utca 11. +36 1 5858 690 Kiadó: Kína-KKE Intézet Nonprofit Kft. [email protected] Szerkesztésért felelős személy: CHen Xin Kiadásért felelős személy: Huang Ping china-cee.eu 2017/01 International Solidarity in a Global Pandemic - A Key Issue ror Bulgaria In the situation of a global pandemic, in which each country experiences many difficulties and serious challenges related to its health, social and economic systems, the issue of so-called international solidarity is becoming extremely important, especially for such countries as Bulgaria with small and highly dependent economies and very limited sources. International solidarity within EU A few weeks ago, Bulgarian political scientist Ivan Krastev noted that actually we are experiencing a kind of paradox. The virus knows no borders, and at the same time closing borders has proved to be the first and only common solution in all countries, regardless of their different traditions and political systems. At present, neither governments nor societies have a clear idea of what's going on and what's going to happen. And the most important thing for any government is to create a sense that the situation is under control. It is precisely the closure of borders in some almost mystical way that convinces people that, first, the government is taking care of something and, second, that this is the way to solve the problem. For this reason, we are in a situation where the EU has been suspended in recent weeks. Borders are closed to people and goods, as well as rules and regulations. This has led many analysts to question the solidarity between EU Member States, which is one of the most important foundations of European unity. Every government in Europe is focusing on its own people. Many media publications raised the question whether the proliferation of COVID-19 has called into question the power of European unity. In this situation, one of the most important questions for Bulgaria in terms of international relations is whether it can expect any kind of international support from the European Union or elsewhere? In this regard it was quite symptomatic that after the last EU summit on March 26, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said that "to date, each country decides its own issues" and that "the first countries that will be rescued are those from the Eurozone" while Bulgaria, which cannot print money because of the currency board is in a particularly difficult situation. The EU’s financial contribution for the measures to mitigate the negative effects of coronavirus is limited to ‘allowing us to use the EU funds that we have not yet contracted’, the prime minister told a press conference in Sofia on 22 March. On a similar note, the Minister of Finance Vladislav Goranov said that these funds are actually “our money”. 1 The European Commission reacted very quickly after the outbreak of the coronavirus. It did mobilize all the available funds and untied the hands of the national governments lifting the restrictions on state aid and excessive deficit. In fact, these were the only available instruments to ease the disbursement of public funds. The fiscal measures were concentrated in a coherent Corona Response Investment Initiative (CRII). This initiative mobilizes all EU funds that are available at this stage of the Multiannual Financial Framework, the EU’s long-term budget which is in its last year. The MFF suggests priorities that are common for the member states, still giving them the freedom to design their own measures. This meant that the European Commission approved the release of € 8 billion in budgetary reserves and € 29 billion of unused structural and cohesion funds to be used by Member States for economic assistance for business and health systems. The program allows € 37 billion, paid in advance and unspent from member states, to be invested in three areas - salaries for medical staff and hiring, hospital equipment, help for small and medium-sized businesses, as well as workers on the job market. This money was to be returned to the European budget by June 2020, but the EU decided to release them to countries in order to help them deal with the crisis and its consequences. For Bulgaria, the amount released is EUR 812 million (EUR 122 million in emergency liquidity and EUR 690 million in unused funds). To this, another € 546 million (together with national co-financing) should be added to the unspent funding of European programs, which can be diverted to activities that have not been covered so far. Thus, the total amount that the government can dispose of to provide the health system and business is EUR 1.358 billion (BGN 2.7 billion). An additional EUR 40 billion can be added as loans, which can be applied for on a general basis by the European Investment Bank. In practice, this is the main form of EU solidarity shared by the member states of the organization, including Bulgaria. Cases of International Solidarity outside the EU At the same time, however, there is a complete encapsulation of individual nation-states within the EU, which is related to the state of emergency declared by the member states and the related restrictions and prohibitions that most concern the possibility of any form humanitarian aid through the export of any medical devices, substances and other equipment. In this regard the Prime Minister Boyko Borisov was asked by the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen on March 17th, as an expression of European solidarity with the most deprived countries, Bulgaria to lift the ban on the export of masks and protective clothing to the EU, which was introduced on 23 February. So far, this has not been 2 done, and Deputy Prime Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva, speaking with Italian Foreign Minister Luigi di Mayo said the ban would not be lifted until Bulgaria met its own needs. Against this background, two significant examples of international solidarity have been striking in the last month at this difficult time for Bulgaria. The first one relates to the decision of the Bulgarian Government to violate the ban on the export of medical equipment and to make a donation to the Government of Northern Macedonia as a sign of warm and brotherly friendship. During a briefing on April 8, the Bulgarian Prime Minister Bojko Borisov announced that he gave an order for hundreds of medical bodysuits to be produced that will be donated in North Macedonia. “…This is a nice gesture and is remembered ten years after. That is why I ordered a bodysuits to be produced for our brothers in North Macedonia, to send them for their doctors working in the first battle lines. It is easy to say that we are brothers, but that is done when it is difficult and the people are dying” – said Borisov. So the Bulgarian government has ordered the first 100 personal protective equipment (PPE) kits to be sent to the Republic of North Macedonia. The PPE kits are for doctors working on the front line against coronavirus in North Macedonia. They have been donated by Bulgarian Ministry of Defense to Macedonia’s Ministry of Defense as a sign of solidarity in the fight against the coronavirus spread. Borissov said that this was being brothers meant: “Helping each other in difficult times”. The gratuitous assistance was agreed between the defense ministers of the two countries Krasimir Karakachanov and Radmila Shekerinska. The first 100 sets have already been handed over at Gyueshevo-Deve Bair border crossing and another 200 are yet to be donated. The other case, which is an expression of international solidarity for Bulgaria, is the demonstrated willingness of China to assist the Bulgarian government on the one hand with the purchase of medical equipment, on the other the provision of donation again in medical protective equipment to combat the coronavirus On March 18 Prime Minister Boyko Borissov had a telephone conversation with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in regards to the coronavirus pandemic. The two discussed the efforts each of the two countries is making to limit the spread of COVID-19. Prime Minister Borissov congratulated China for the effective measures to put the coronavirus epidemic under control. For his part, the Chinese Premier Li Keqiang thanked the Bulgarian Prime Minister for his support and involvement during the most difficult time of the coronavirus crisis in China. Li Keqiang noted that the measures taken in China are already working, but he said that the victory over the coronavirus has not yet been achieved and that the fight should continue, with countries helping one another. In this regard Li Keqiang said he understands that the coronavirus is a big challenge for Bulgaria and expressed China's willingness to provide assistance to our country 3 in the form of donation of masks, glasses, gloves and other protective equipment. China also intended to grant this kind of assistance to the European Commission, from which Bulgaria will also benefit as a EU member state. The Chinese Premier also expressed readiness to assist Bulgaria in establishing contacts with Chinese manufacturers of protective equipment and respirators, so that through the Ministries of Economy and Trade of both countries Bulgaria can buy the necessary quantities. Prime Minister Boyko Borissov thanked Premier Li Keqiang and the Government of the People's Republic of China for their state donation initiative, as well as for the donation of 12,000 disposable masks and 2,000 special masks to Bulgaria from the Government of the Jiangxi Province and the China-Europe Association for Economic and Technical Cooperation.
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