Bulgaria wants to play more important role in India-EU relations: Lawmaker

Bulgaria's geographical position as the first member-country connecting the European Union (EU) with India gives it the added advantage of playing an important role in fostering closer ties with the 27-member economic bloc, according to a senior Bulgarian parliamentarian and former foreign minister. Kristian Vigenin, Deputy Chair of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and Chair of the Bulgaria-India Friendship Group in the Bulgarian Parliament is expected to be among the newly-elected members of the European Parliament (MEPs) after the results of the EU-wide elections are officially declared later this week. In his future role, the Vice-Speaker of Bulgaria's National Assembly said he wants to champion greater India-EU parliamentary cooperation that has slowed down due to "stresses in the system" of the COVID pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Although the size of India and Bulgaria are not comparable, I believe that we need to do more as a country which is part of the EU to .