Kiril Petkov: Is Bulgaria ready to stand up to Russia?
The Interview
BBC
4.3 • 537 Ratings
🗓️ 14 February 2022
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Vladimir Putin knows how to probe for weakness in the West. With his troops building up on the Ukrainian border, Russia’s president is testing the unity of NATO. In particular, he is putting pressure on Europe’s eastern flank. How will nations once in the Soviet orbit respond? Stephen Sackur speaks to Kiril Petkov, Prime Minister of Bulgaria, which Moscow says must not host a NATO military presence. This is a big test for a new prime minister in the EU’s poorest country. Is Bulgaria ready to stand up to Russia?
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Hard Talk on the BBC World Service with me, Stephen Sacker. My guest today is one of Europe's |
| 0:06.8 | newest and arguably most interesting heads of government. Two decades ago, Kirill Petkov was a |
| 0:13.3 | graduate of Harvard Business School whose career highlight was working for an American food business |
| 0:19.3 | known for its oven-ready chips. |
| 0:21.6 | Now he's leading his country, Bulgaria, at a time of heightened geopolitical tension in Eastern Europe, |
| 0:27.6 | as a result of Vladimir Putin's troop build-up on Russia's border with Ukraine. |
| 0:32.6 | Putin sees this as his moment to confront what he claims to be NATO's unacceptable expansionism in Russia's backyard. |
| 0:42.6 | One of his specific demands is that NATO forces be pulled back from Bulgaria. |
| 0:49.1 | Prime Minister Petkov, in power for just a few months, has positioned himself as a loyal supporter of the unyielding |
| 0:56.0 | NATO response to Russia's demands. But his country, even his cabinet, appears divided. There is a |
| 1:03.2 | significant strand of pro-Moscow sentiment in Bulgaria. There's also a long record of corruption |
| 1:09.7 | and economic mismanagement in the country, |
| 1:12.2 | which Mr. Petkov has promised to put right. In other words, he faces a series of massive challenges. |
| 1:19.2 | Does he have what it takes to overcome them? Well, he joins me now on the line from Sophia. |
| 1:25.3 | Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, welcome to Hard Talk. Hi, Stephen. It's good to be with you. It's great to have you on the line from Sofia. Prime Minister Kiril Pedkov, welcome to Hard Talk. |
| 1:28.7 | Hi, Stephen. It's good to be with you. |
| 1:30.6 | It's great to have you on the show, Prime Minister. |
| 1:32.8 | I just referred to Vladimir Putin probing for weaknesses in NATO. |
| 1:37.6 | Do you think Bulgaria is a weak link in NATO? |
| 1:41.4 | Not at all. |
| 1:42.4 | And not at all. |
| 1:43.2 | We have made a very clear position that we are a strong |
... |
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