 Okay, you're all very welcome this afternoon to the Institute of International European Affairs. My name is Barry Andrews, I'm the Director General here at the Institute, and my job is to introduce the Chair this afternoon. But just to begin with, here in the IAA, we are embarked on a programme of study around the future of the European Union, and this event is part of that project with the support of the Department of Foreign Affairs. In that regard, our Chair, John O'Brennan, Professor from Manuth University, has prepared a paper on the Western Balkans and enlargement and the accession discussions that went on last week, in particular in the summit in Sofia. And his paper is very timely, of course, and was published naturally before the summit, and touches on many of the critical issues that were discussed at that summit meeting last week about the tension between widening and deepening, about the extent to which the transformative effect of membership can truly be documented, implementation fatigue, and also the very interesting issues that have emerged from the enlargements over the last decade or so. So it's very timely and fortunate for us to have with us today the Deputy Foreign Minister of Bulgaria. So I want to thank Professor O'Brennan for all of his fantastic work for us here at the Institute, and hand over to you now, John. Thank you. Thanks very much indeed, Barry. I think I'll stay seated if I may. It's a great pleasure to welcome to the Institute Minister Kraliva. She is a graduate of Sofia University. She has a Master's in History from that institution. She's also studied at the Klingendoll Institute in The Hague, the College of International and Security Studies in Germany, and she has had a stellar career over 30 years in diplomacy that has encompassed all kinds of different posts, including most recently when she served as ambassador between 2012 and 2016 to Greece, the ambassador of Bulgaria to Greece. Her current post is Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, but it encompasses an enormous range of important activity. She directed for political affairs, for European affairs, for European Union policy and CFSP, and we are particularly delighted to welcome her at this time. It's no exaggeration to say that the Bulgarian presidency has put in enormous work over the last year before its presidency began into the whole panoply of issues connected to the Western Balkans and tried to re-engage many of the Member States that had, for want of a better phrase, reduced the Western Balkans in importance when they looked at the future of the European Union. And last week's summit meeting in Sofia, I think, reflected the great degree of priority attached by the Bulgarian presidency to re-engaging with the Western Balkans as a region and making sure that the Commission's very interesting strategy paper produced in February and the country papers are followed through concretely at the June European Council. So I'm very much looking forward to what the Minister has to say about that and about the Bulgarian perspective on the future of Europe. So I'd now like to invite Minister Kraljeva to address us on that topic. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Sure. Yes, indeed. Wherever you're comfortable, I would say. It's up to you. Probably. Okay. Can you hear me? Okay. Dear guests, dear colleagues, I would like also to greet Professor John Brennan and Mr. Andrews, Barry Andrews, who is Director General, but also all other colleagues from the Institute. And I would like really to thank you for being here and coming to listen to what I have to say. Please feel free to ask also questions when I finish because I don't think I can really guess everything that is really of interest of you as a public, but I'll try my best to present whatever is important for us for the moment as a presidency. So I'll start by saying that the future of EU 27 is a topic that have been discussed since 2016, and by this sentence, I would like to get into the subject of the whole series of lectures that were presented here in this Institute about the future of Europe. So in light of the growing Euro skepticism in the context and even also before the Brexit, it started to loom around. Curious enough, Bulgaria and Ireland are among the Euro optimists in the Union, which is really, we are firm believers in the future of the European integration project. And that is why I believe it's very topical that we discussed this issue today, particularly from the perspective of those who actually cherish the European integration and remember its significance for the peace, democracy and prosperity in Europe. Well in 1948, as a historian I will start, just say a few words, I will not make big historian retrospectives, but just to mention that we have to remember that in 1948 the integration project helped establish lasting peace in Europe. In late 80s and the beginning of 90s, it unified the continent, making it possible for the Central and Eastern European states to rejoin the European family, embracing the values of the European Union. And here I also include our, my country too, because we were part of this group of countries that joined at that time and you probably vividly remember this moment. For us was really a moment in time to get into the European Union. It was probably the most important thing that happened in our history during the modern history of Bulgaria. We consider it like that. So this is why on this 11th year of accession of the European Union, Bulgaria is proud to hold the rotating presidency of the Council of the Union, striving to contribute even more to the European integration through three main dimensions I will mention. First when handling the many difficult issues and files in the legislative program of decommission, we aim to have unity and to restore the relevance of the Union for all. For example, we introduce a new approach to the discussions on certain divisive topics like migration and social matters, trying to identify those elements that are common for all and hence conductive to building consensus, at least on certain issues in those very difficult packages. And to be more concrete in the debates on migration, we introduced a new scale for measuring crisis situations and applying automatic response so that both frontline countries and countries of final destinations are able to show common solidarity and responsibility. These are actually the two key words on this issue, solidarity and responsibility because certain countries think that we have to apply only one part of this, I would say, equal thing which has two sides, it's not only one or the other. The consensus is not there yet, I have to admit, but our approach in principle is accepted by all and at the end the leaders will decide how the Council should proceed further. Secondly, we have been trying to reach progress most inform us on those files that have direct impact on our citizens. For example, the regulation on geo-blocking is such an example, preventing any discrimination of customers, no matter which EU member state they live in. Another example is the debate which started last week in Sofia on the mechanism through which the EU should ensure equal standards of quality of all goods under one and the same trade mark sold in the single market. You probably don't know that there are certain goods that has been noticed on our market, partly Bulgaria too is also, but also in other countries from the former Eastern bloc so-called, that not produced of the same quality of the same standards that you can find the same label in other countries, so it's something that we should not tolerate anymore and we try to also to get this to a certain results and it is also very close to the everyday life of each and every citizen. So this is among the small doses but very important to us. Thirdly also, we continue to argue that the added value of convergence and cohesion of making our integration deeper and that is why Bulgaria hosted the meeting dedicated in particular to the enhanced cooperation in judiciary and the establishment of the office of the European prosecutor and we continue to ask for membership in Schengen and we plan to submit very soon our official application for ERM too and this is the first step to our membership in the Eurozone. This is among things that are also, we see as important for European integration. So it is our vision of the EU of 27, generally speaking, more united, stronger and with more democratic and relevant for the citizens union, a union where we apply solidarity and responsibility in all policy areas, not only in migration, but from migration and security to also the banking and monetary union and as far as the next common budget is concerned also. And referring more specifically to the later, we should be ready for a more ambitious budget if we want a more ambitious union, closer internally and stronger externally. And that is why we have been advocating for the principle to agree first on the policy priorities and then discuss specific sums and allocations when we speak about the multi-annual financial framework. As with Ireland, our accession to the European Union is not only an event of financial importance, it is a process of continuous reform and upgrading our institutions and behavior. And that is why our membership enjoys unanimous support among the citizens and across the political spectrum. Of course, this membership has a wider scope, it's not limited to our internal affairs. It's yet another proof of the vitality and the universality of the European project. And here side by side with the pressure to bring the union closer to its citizens goes our responsibility toward our neighborhood. And we think that populism and euros kept it in Europe are detrimental not only for European Union societies themselves, but they also project a very negative picture of the union abroad. They lower down the comparative strength of the European Union to export stability and security through a reliable European perspective for those countries in the neighborhood who want it and who embrace the values of the European Union and who carry out corresponding reforms. And here I come to a fourth element of our vision for Europe, which is the enlargement towards the Western Balkans region. We think that without the Western Balkans, European integration remains an incomplete project. At the same time, without this prospect, the region will remain unstable with direct impact for the stability and security of the European Union itself. And that is why we in Sofia were happy that five days or less ago the first European Union Western Balkans summit since 15 years confirmed the same message. This alone is not a small achievement considering the serious geopolitical, economic and social challenges both the EU and the whole world are facing today. And we can count here numerous issues like among them the trade dispute with the United States adherence to international law and in particular this joint comprehensive plan of action with Iran. All this coupled with the debate on the vision for the future of Europe, issues of security, migration, Brexit, climate change, et cetera. And coming back from the Balkans to the Emerald Island, I would like only to confirm the message I started with and which is embedded in the motto of the Bulgarian Presidency and it is united we stand strong. The Bulgarian Presidency is proud also that we maintain the unity of the EU member states in the difficult Brexit negotiations. Already in January, we succeeded in adopting negotiating directives, taking into account the commitments in the joint European Union-UK report on the exit issues. This was the basis for the draft withdrawal agreement with the Commission on the table in February and which is now agreed upon with the UK in 75%. This is also the basis for the guidelines for the future relations with the UK which the European Council adopted in March. In all these documents, the Union stands united behind Thailand on the very difficult topic of the border regime. We will continue to work tirelessly, side by side, to reach the progress required, but not least for the sustained peace process in Northern Ireland. And here, by the way, I would like to mention that I understood that today is actually kind of a celebration of 20 years since the good Friday agreement signed, adopted here in both sides of the island. So it is important really to continue on this path and I would like to express my support and my government support and generally speaking. As I said, the European Union, Commissioner Bernier was also involved in this negotiation very much and whatever he said in his recent visit, I think, in Ireland, in Ireland cities, is fully shared also by the Bulgarian Presidency. So we are there together. To sum up our vision for the year of 27 is, so Europe that continues to do well or it does best, fostering cohesion and convergence on the basis of our common values. This means also continued work on the building of the single market and on preparing our economies for the challenges of the future, including in technological terms. And Europe which protects free trade and powers small and medium enterprises in the new digital era as the basis for sustainable growth and global competitiveness. Europe which focuses more effectively on results relevant for our citizens, including in the social and educational field. And Europe which protects its borders without betraying its humanitarian principles. Ultimately, I would say Europe which is respected and strong international actor. And I would like also to touch upon the future of the integration in security and defence. This is a central issue in the wider debate on the vision of the European Union of the future. Here I would like to say also to use a bit of my background as CFSP coordinator for several years in our national policies. So it is really important that we support the steps that have been taken since the endorsement of the EU global strategy in 2016. And they are aimed to closer integration, more binding commitment to common security and defence. And that is why the Bulgarian presidency has been committed to the work on the permanent structure cooperation, the so-called PESCO. And we welcome the fact that during our presidency PESCO entered its practical phase. On 6th of March 2016, the council adopted not only the strategy for the western Balkans, but the council adopted, it was announced by the commission of course, but the council adopted recommendations on the roadmap for the implementation of PESCO. And also the initial list of 17 projects to be undertaken by PESCO, which is a very good start of this policy we think, and it was not an easy task, again. The council documents on sequencing the fulfilment of the more binding commitments and a common set of governance rules are in the pipeline with a view to be adopted in June 2018. Bulgaria shares the Irish view that realism and quality should be among the guiding principles in determining the sequence of implementation of PESCO commitments. The two countries would also be part of an important PESCO project on upgrade of maritime surveillance, and we are looking forward to working together on that track. Along with PESCO, the trial start of the coordinated annual review of defence, so-called CARD, and the establishment of the European Defence Fund, are essential steps towards deepening defence cooperation. Both enhance the efficiency and strengthen the European Union's development programme regulation as constituent part of the EDF with the link to PESCO. It is a priority and will provide further opportunities for European defence industries, which is very important to us too, so as I can. In this respect, the coherence of all CSDP instruments and initiatives is key. The real strength of European defence will become apparent once the three major initiatives, CARD, EDF and PESCO, are intrinsically linked and mutually reinforced. For Bulgaria, it is essential that the development of better integrated European defence contribute to the security of the EU citizens by completing, by complementing NATO's role in the security of Europe and not challenging it. And a comprehensive and mutually complementary cooperation is vital, especially in areas such as strategic communications, counter-terrorism, building resilience for our partners, particularly in the western Balkans, also in Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova, and confronting hybrid threats, cyber security issues and cross-border military mobility, which is also a very important project of the European Union, and maritime security. So by these issues, I will close my written speech and I'm really at your disposal to respond to any issues that might be posed, but also to speak more, if you are interested about western Balkans and Turkey and the other, I have not included so much about this because I was sure that it might be also of special interest, so I may add to these words that I have said, responding to questions. And thank you very much for your attention.