April 3, 2019, “Hello, Bulgaria”, NOVA
“NATO realizes that its problem is in the Black Sea. With Russia’s withdrawal from the missile treaty, we are in a whole new situation. And this was noticed and reported in the organization yesterday. NATO is starting a very active military presence in the Black Sea, in my opinion very late. The refusal of NATO’s military presence has sharpened Russia’s appetites. This was stated in the studio of “Hello, Bulgaria” by former Foreign Minister Solomon Passy.
He is of the opinion that if this had happened 15 years ago, there would not have been problems with Georgia – the annexation of Abkhazia, Crimea and the problems in eastern Ukraine.
According to him, the military presence of the Alliance should be of a calming nature. “And if we are talking about a military presence, it is calming. NATO is not an offensive organization, it is a defense organization. But if a defense organization does not have a defense force, it already becomes vulnerable, “he said.
Asked if confidence in NATO had fallen, he said: “Trust is one thing and the Alliance’s strength is another.”
Regarding the plane crash in northern Macedonia, in which a Bulgarian family died, the former interior minister said: “I would not trust only telephone conversations with a country that is not a member of NATO. I would urge the Bulgarian forces – both the Civil Defense and the special forces, if necessary – to engage in this case much more closely. “
Passy also commented on the statement of the Turkish Foreign Minister about the influence exerted on our country during the vote on the amendments to the Law on Religions and the position of our Foreign Ministry. “There is nothing more to add to the position. Let us realize that Turkey is in the process of elections. And what the minister’s spokesman said yesterday is the factual apology with the preservation of a person. They said, “I’m sorry, but we’re using this for internal use.” We should not listen to politicians very seriously at all in pre-election periods. In Turkey, we should not talk about events, we should talk about processes. It is a whole planet. There are processes of Islamization and Europeanization. Turkey, on the one hand, wanted to become a European state and, on the other, to be a leader in the Islamic world. Erdogan is currently afraid not only of his career but also of his life. The election showed that the country is still democratic, “the former foreign minister concluded.
For additional information and video of the interview: NOVA.