Sofia hosts "Aqaba Process for the Balkans" initiative

Delegations from 30 countries across the Balkans, the Middle East, and Europe, including 8 presidents from our region, are participating in the high-level meeting within the framework of the "Aqaba Process for the Balkans"."The hosts of the meeting in Sofia are King Abdullah II of Jordan and President Rumen Radev. The forum was agreed upon during the official visit of the Bulgarian President to Jordan. The participants in the forum are discussing challenges related to the security of the Balkans, the fight against terrorism, illegal migration, and radicalisation.

In times when security becomes a daily challenge, it is particularly important for leaders of states to be able to exchange views in an informal setting and together seek ways to strengthen this security, President Rumen Radev said:

"In a time of sharp deterioration in the security environment, it is especially important for the voices of leaders and experts to be heard more, and for their opinions and proposals to be respected. Had this been done, the fatat counteroffensive for Ukraine, launched in 2023, would not have happened. If this were happening today, not many leaders in Europe would hold the naive belief that by pouring more resources and weapons into Ukraine, they would be able to bring it to a position where it could achieve significant military successes and negotiate from a position of strength. It is clear that this will not happen. Instead, it will lead to what we have shared before: more destruction, more victims, a further distancing from peace, and even more lost territories for Ukraine."

According to President Radev, the great challenge not only for the Balkans and Europe, but for the world, is to free ourselves from the delusion that peace and security can be guaranteed for a given country or region at the expense of another:

"The Balkans are particularly sensitive on the security issue because we directly suffer the consequences of the military conflicts around our region. Conflicts that fuel illegal human trafficking, migration, terrorism, and radicalisation. It is precisely for this reason that the focus of today's meeting will be on achieving a common understanding of these issues and finding common ways to solve them."

The "Aqaba Process" is a series of international meetings first initiated by King Abdullah II of Jordan in 2015. The forum in Sofia is a continuation of the previous meetings held in 2016 in the Jordanian city of Aqaba and in 2018 in the capital of Albania, Tirana. The meeting is closed to the media.