Balgarianovinite.com During his joint briefing with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Monday, Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said that Bulgaria is a country with significant potential.
“I briefed Chancellor Merz on Bulgaria’s socio-economic development in recent years and on the results of the snap parliamentary elections held a month ago,” Radev said.
The PM thanked Chancellor Merz for the invitation and the warm welcome.
The Bulgarian prime minister arrived earlier in the day in Berlin, where he was greeted with military honours at the Federal Chancellery. Radev is leading a delegation that includes Deputy PM and Minister of Economy, Investment, and Industry Alexander Poulev and Minister of Foreign Affairs Velislava Petrova.
Prime Minister Rumen Radev highlighted Bulgaria’s strategic geographic position as a link between Central Europe and the Balkans during talks with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin on Monday. He stressed the growing importance of the Black Sea region and connections to the Middle East and Asia.
Radev said Bulgaria has strengthened European transport, energy and digital corridors over the years and, with German investment, has developed a modern industrial base in sectors including automotive production, robotics and defence.
He also pointed to Bulgaria’s expanding startup and IT sector, particularly in artificial intelligence, and said the country had established itself as a year-round tourism destination attracting increasing numbers of German visitors.
“The most important thing for me is that Bulgaria has emerged not as a periphery, but as an important industrial and logistics partner of Germany in Southeast Europe,” Radev said. He added that this was largely due to the talent, dedication and ambition of Bulgarians, and pointed to singer Dara’s success at the Eurovision Song Contest as an example of the country’s growing international visibility.
He acknowledged that years of political instability and rule-of-law concerns had limited Bulgaria’s potential, but said the situation is changing with the formation of what he described as a technocratic government with a clear reform agenda focused on economic development, high-tech industries, artificial intelligence, energy security and productivity.
Radev said he and Merz had discussed attracting and protecting foreign investment, adding that Bulgaria and Germany could deepen cooperation beyond trade and investment and contribute jointly to Europe’s strategic autonomy and industrial security.
He also stressed the need for Europe to play a stronger diplomatic role amid global economic uncertainty and ongoing conflicts, welcoming what he described as Europe’s readiness to work toward negotiations involving the United States, Europe, Ukraine and Russia.
According to Radev, Europe also needs a clear strategy for strengthening its own defence capabilities and industrial base.
The Bulgarian prime minister highlighted cooperation with Germany in security, combating illegal migration, cross-border crime and terrorism, as well as strong ties in culture, education, science and tourism.
He noted that more than 400,000 Bulgarian citizens live, work or study in Germany, while the number of German citizens living in Bulgaria is also growing.
Responding to journalists’ questions, Radev said Bulgaria sees potential for further defence cooperation with Germany beyond existing projects with German defence company Rheinmetall, including drone production and joint European defence initiatives.
He also said Bulgaria is ready to produce drones in the same class as the stalled Eurodrone project and announced plans for an artificial intelligence “gigafactory” in Bulgaria involving a German company. Bulgaria Is a Country with Significant Potential, PM Radev Says in Berlin 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-05-18 17:46:00 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law