Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the press conference following the meeting between Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev and Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Mr. Prime Minister, please, the floor is yours.
I warmly welcome Prime Minister Rumen Radev to Warsaw. A long-awaited visit. Our nations and our states are friends, but it just so happened that it has been a very long time since we hosted a Bulgarian head of government in Warsaw, although we two did have the opportunity to meet—and I thank you for that—in Gdańsk at the Ukraine recovery conference. I am pleased because the Prime Minister and I have known each other for many years. We understand each other very well. I can certainly confirm that. On some matters, which is understandable, it is sometimes determined by history, sometimes by geography. We have different sensitivities or even sometimes different views, but we understand the situation of our states and our nations very well, and I am convinced that, just as before, we will—both as friends and as states—cooperate very well in the interest of Poland, Bulgaria, and the entire region, both in Brussels and on the broader international stage.
If you will allow me, dear friend, I will start with a topic that took up a lot of our time during our one-on-one meeting. It is, well, a real drama of these modern times, because it is not the first time that when I talk to one of our partners here in Warsaw and speak about how aggressive Russia's behavior is and what a problem it creates for Poland as well, the Russians decide to prove exactly that at that very moment. As we were talking just a moment ago, Ukraine was attacked again near the Polish border, and we had to evacuate the border crossings in Hrubieszów and Dorohusk again. You can imagine what losses and stress this causes. This situation forces us to act very consistently here in Poland, to cooperate with Ukraine, but also to warn Europe and our European partners that this time is truly difficult and that we must prepare well for the coming weeks and months. Autumn and winter could indeed be critical.
And I am aware of all the differences, including those between Poland and Bulgaria, but on one issue regarding Ukraine and Russia, we have an obvious and shared view. This war should end as soon as possible, and not on the aggressor's terms, but on fair and just terms, so that the peace may be lasting. At the moment, there is no sign of good will from President Putin or Moscow in the slightest, and we know that too. Well, we also have a problem. We discussed this as well; I informed Prime Minister Radev about the recurring acts of sabotage or strange incidents in Poland that are causing serious trouble for our railway infrastructure. Today, we had a problem with a key location, from the point of view of the situation across our eastern border as well. Infrastructure that enables Starlinks to operate. As you know, Poland is trying to help Ukraine here in cooperation with SpaceX, so that connectivity is ensured, and we had, well, a strange incident involving the arson of this infrastructure. It is too early. I don't like to define what is sabotage and what is an accident without 100% certainty, but it also looks bad, and I would like you to know the conditions in which we have to work.
Our cooperation with Bulgaria has a priority character for me. We have been cooperating for many years; we have been in various roles, but we have always wanted our region—both Bulgaria and Poland—to be states that all of Europe counts on, with our point of view. We are no longer in the position of those who have just joined the European Union and have to ask for something or learn something. I truly always repeat this in recent months with full conviction. This European heart beats more in our region today, and I am convinced that the future of Europe belongs to states like Poland and Bulgaria. The shape of the Bulgarian delegation shows how much importance you attach to our economic cooperation. There is great potential here, and we are talking here about cooperation regarding the defense industry. It is known that this is a priority for Poland today above all, but generally all expenditures related to security, which also means industry, science, innovation, and technologies, is something in which Poland will be very active. We are allocating gigantic funds for this and we would very much like—because we see a lot of space for common interests—we would very much like to intensify our cooperation with Bulgaria here.
Thank you very much for preparing this draft, or project, of such an in-depth Polish-Bulgarian agreement. We will still work diligently on the details, but I hope that if you invite me to Sofia, I would show up, and perhaps that would be a good finale to our talks and analyses. So I am, in this matter, at your disposal. I am glad that you have decided to establish a day of Bulgarian-Polish or Polish-Bulgarian friendship. The order here does not matter. I was checking it again this morning. I am convinced that in our parliament we will also quickly establish a common date, because only that makes sense, and that there probably won't be any division or political differences in Poland here, because everyone, regardless of their views, highly values our friendship, lack of conflict, common interests, and common points of view. So, I welcome you warmly to Warsaw once again. Feel at home here. You know that you, your government, and your state will always be able to count on Poland.
Thank you very much, Mr. Prime Minister, and I will ask the Prime Minister of Bulgaria, Rumen Radev, to take the floor.
Distinguished Prime Minister, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for the invitation and the warm welcome. For me, it is a very great pleasure to be here in Poland as my first foreign visit. For me, this is a major sign of the strategic importance of our cooperation. We Bulgarians have a special attitude toward Poland, because Poland is for us not just a friend and partner in the European Union and NATO. We are linked with Poland by healthy, historical, and cultural ties that date back centuries, since the time of Władysław of Varna, whose courage and the sacrifice he made are things that are not forgotten. I would like to greet Poland in the person of Prime Minister Tusk on the occasion of the incredible growth, the impressive growth over the last decades in industry, high technology, investment, and defense. A very important matter. I am pleased because Poland is no longer a country catching up, a country lagging behind in Europe. Poland is a strong European center with high defense capabilities, and that gives satisfaction and it is good that Central Europe is transforming into such a hub for the arms and defense industry. Cooperation with Poland has special significance.
Donald, you and I discussed important issues concerning the European agenda, and I am glad that our positions are either identical or of a very similar nature. I believe that our economies need strong ties and we need cheap energy. Therefore, Poland and Bulgaria are in favor of deliveries of American gas, liquefied natural gas. Poland from the north, Bulgaria from the south. It is also about the development of nuclear energy. Bulgaria will have two, and Poland three American reactors. And these are very complex projects. Bulgaria has over 50 years of experience in nuclear energy, even though they are Russian reactors. But when it comes to security matters, there are general common topics on which we can cooperate. We are also interested in cooperation in the defense industry, space, and high technology. We see here Poland's example in creating large data centers and artificial intelligence factories. It is no coincidence that we came here with a large delegation to be able to address these topics, topics of cooperation in these particularly important spheres.
Important, it goes without saying, is the topic of defense. Bulgaria and Poland agree on the security issues of NATO's eastern flank. To the east of us, war has been brought. A war of attrition. A war that is also exhausting our economies. We are obligated to do everything so that this war ends as quickly as possible. And our states should be ready to meet all challenges, just as it is happening today in Poland. We must be ready to deal with the hybrid attacks that occur both in Poland and in Bulgaria. Also, we should develop, and Poland is doing a lot in this regard, anti-drone systems. We have joint projects, for example, the F-16 project, and I hope that we will share experiences with Poland in maintaining these aircraft. That is why we should continue our further cooperation and exchange information on how to counter specific crises. I would like to thank Prime Minister Tusk for his help in maintaining the operational readiness of the MiG-29s, because these are the aircraft that we use to maintain the security of our airspace within NATO. There is still—we still have work to do regarding sovereignty in Europe. We can continue to share our experiences in the future.
I am glad that Polish tourists have returned to Bulgaria. Last year, there were about 500,000 Polish tourists. That number is constantly growing. Economic exchange is steadily increasing. At the moment, it has exceeded 3 billion euros. We are pleased with Polish investments, which have reached 650 million euros so far. And I hope that there will be more of these Polish investments in Bulgaria. Regarding transport links. We in Poland have many projects related to transport infrastructure, and in this sphere, Poland has done an incredible amount in recent years, both in terms of building motorways, utilizing EU funds, and the project of building a modern railway network. As I heard today from Prime Minister Tusk, you are already talking about 350 km/h. These are great successes, and I hope that your companies will also appear in Poland.
When it comes to security, there are other dimensions. It is about protecting the external borders of the European Union. And here, both countries make a significant contribution. We allocate significant funds from our budget to keep Europe's borders secure, and recently our interior ministers had a meeting to discuss minimum security standards, and we expect greater solidarity from other European countries, and more attention from them and from EU institutions, so they could deal with this problem. Thanks to our efforts, we in both countries are recording a smaller influx of migrants, illegal migrants, and let's hope that this will be taken into account in Brussels. As for our positions regarding the EU agenda and the next financial framework, we have discussed this topic many times, but both countries demand a strong cohesion policy and a strong agricultural policy. Therefore, these are the pillars of EU policy; these are the pillars of the development of both our countries.
Defense plays a very important role. We are closely observing the new fund for defense support, so that these funds are used in such a way that all countries have equal access to the instruments of this program and so that this money does not go only to corporations in Western European countries. And that is why in the face of all challenges, we must be together and we must act together towards Brussels, and the Eastern Europe region is particularly important for the future development of Europe, for energy security, and for the security of our entire continent. Dear Donald, I am pleased with today's fruitful discussion. We have outlined new steps and new actions for the future. I will be glad if this discussion is continued in Bulgaria and allows for concrete results to be achieved. Our parliament has indeed accepted February 14th as our day of friendship and cooperation, and I hope the Polish parliament will take a similar action. Once again, thank you for asking the first one and indicating to whom the questions are directed.
It was a straightforward question. A question from the Bulgarian media: Poland has become a strategic partner for Bulgaria in the sphere of military aviation. Will Poland continue to help with MiG-29 repairs, and since we are talking about security, will Poland participate in our infrastructure projects, both in terms of security and transport corridors?
