Petar VOLGIN

Policy topics Petar VOLGIN is active on

What Petar VOLGIN has said (17)

• 2026-06-16 “(10:55:17 – 10:56:31): The US Iran peace agreement was achieved through the great efforts of China, Pakistan, and Qatar. And my question is, where is the European Union? Where is the European external action service? Where are they? We European citizens pay €1,000,000,000 to this service every year, and it turns out that its core activity that is to achieve peace is carried out by non EU countries. And what is the so called Europe's foreign minister doing? Oh, yes. She has much more important thing to do than work for peace in The Middle East. She is dreaming of, how Russia would collapse. She and her service have done nothing to achieve peace in Ukraine or to pacify the Middle East. Therefore, voices are being raised at the highest European level to remove this service. It just wastes European taxpayers' money and works for the militarization of Europe. Peace has been achieved in The Middle East before the helpless eyes of top bureaucrats. These people and their services are absolutely unnecessary. Thank you.”
  EU diplomatic representation
• 2025-04-02 “– Гласувах срещу този доклад, защото той изглежда е писан от хора, които са изпаднали в зимен сън в началото на 2022 г. и нямат намерение да се будят. Нито виждат загубите на Украйна на бойното поле, нито са наясно, че Съединените щати и Русия преговарят за приключването на тази война. Трябва да си тотално откъснат от реалността, за да напишеш, че Европейският съюз ще помага всячески на Киев, цитирам „до победа на Украйна“. Никакъв мозък явно няма в главата ти, след като припомняш, цитирам „мирния план от 10 точки на президента Зеленски“. А това е нещо, което никой по света вече не приема насериозно. Изобщо целият доклад е съставен от идеологически догми, които отдавна катастрофираха при сблъсъка с реалността. Едно единствено смислено нещо има в този величествен по своята глупост доклад и то е свързано с напомнянето, че дипломацията трябва да играе основна роля за разрешаването на конфликти. Хубаво припомняне, но ЕС през последните 3 години не излезе с нито една дипломатическа инициатива за прекратяване на войната в Украйна. Завладяни от антируската истерия, т. нар. европейски дипломати изобщо не желаеха да водят мирни преговори. Именно заради този безумен милитаризъм сега Съединените щати и Русия сами ще решат този конфликт, без изобщо да се съобразяват с Евросъюза.”
• 2024-10-08 “E-001881/2024 P-001989/2024 Answer given by Ms Kos on behalf of the European Commission The Constitution of Ukraine, as well as related legislation, provides for the right to freedom of religion and belief, as stipulated in the European Convention on Human Rights 1 and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union 2 . The Commission has taken note of Ukrainian Parliament’s adoption on 20 August 2024 of the law of Ukraine ‘On the protection of the constitutional order in the field of activities of religious organisations’, which prohibits the activities of religious organisations affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine, on the grounds of national security and prevention of foreign interference from Russia. The right to freedom of religion and belief is an integral part of the fundamental rights chapter in Ukraine’s accession process. In the Enlargement report issued on 30 October 2024 3 , the Commission assessed that in general Ukrainian authorities protect this freedom, and that incidents of hate speech and intimidation based on religion are rare. No infringements of religious rights were reported in government-controlled territories of Ukraine. The Commission will continue closely monitoring the application of the right to freedom of religion and belief in Ukraine and report on this as appropriate. 1 https://www.echr.coe.int/documents/d/echr/convention_eng 2 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:12012P/TXT OJEU C 326 of 26.10.2012. 3 SWD(2024) 699 final.”
  EU engagement with Christian communities inside and outside the EU · EU-Ukraine relations
• “Thank you. Chair. In the document under discussion, which offers us guidance on how to protect European democracy and our values, there is a particularly striking point. It states that hybrid attacks and disinformation campaigns originating from hostile foreign states aim to undermine the authority of European institutions. Dear colleagues, there is no need for any foreign interference in this regard, because the EU institutions in question are perfectly capable of undermining their own authority, starting with the European Commission and moving down the chain. One can clearly see how utterly inadequate the decisions made by these structures are. For example, point nine of the report boasts about the adopted 16 packages of sanctions against Russia and the new ones in preparation. Yet the result of these sanctions is that Russia continues to seize more Ukrainian territory and appears increasingly strong on the eve of the upcoming peace negotiations. In other words, the EU sanctions have produced results exactly opposite to those intended. Instead of coming up with something new, European leaders persist with the same ineffective methods. These inadequate actions distort our lack of imagination are the real reason for the collapse of the European institutions, not some invented hybrid attacks. Thank you.”
  Foreign interference in Europe
• “The so-called European Media Freedom Act, seems to have been copied from a dystopian novel by Yevgeny Zamyatin or George Orwell. This document is supposed to protect freedom, but its real purpose is to destroy the last remnants of media freedom in Europe. It's like a double bottom suitcase. On the surface are beautiful phrases, and beneath them is hidden the true essence, namely the imposition of a single viewpoint. This act has created a European Board for Media Services whose main task is combating disinformation. According to the Brussels Newspeak, disinformation is anything that does not fit into the procrastination bed of the official narrative. To put it bluntly, if a media outlet has a different stance than the official on the work of the European Commission the Green Deal, the LGBT hysteria, the war in Ukraine, or the killing of tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza. It will be accused of spreading disinformation and it will be banned. Hence, the European Media Freedom Act is a road to the hell of censorship, which is paved with good intentions. Thank you.”
  Disinformation & online freedoms
• “Thank you, Madam Chair. I'll speak in Bulgarian. The war that the United States and Israel have started against Iran has led to a spike in energy prices, as Commission President von der Leyen has said, and I'm quoting, since the beginning of the conflict, gas prices have risen by 50%. Oil prices by 27%. So naturally, the US temporarily lifted the embargo on Russian oil. Now states can buy it without US sanctions. The EU, however, is not just unwilling to lift sanctions against Russia. It is determined to stop buying Russian oil and gas altogether. Here we come to the classic question who has an interest, a vested interest in it. Certainly European countries are not profiting from Brussels sanctions. They're losing. And a lot first, because they give up cheap Russian energy resources on the use of which the economic strength of most of them rested. Secondly, because they're now buying and will continue to buy energy sources at much higher prices, this means that electricity heating bills of citizens will be increasingly unbearable. So what happens in the end? European economy, economies collapse, prices, bills rise. But someone must be winning, right? It is the US, the US that managed to get EU leaders and most governments to give up cheap Russian gas and oil and start buying expensive American gas and oil. They used some dependence on US. Energy has increased fourfold from around 4% in 2018 to 22% today. It turns out that Europe is led by people who do not care about European interests. They just serve American ones. The worst is that even when the US is doing meaningful things, the leaders of the union do not want to follow them. So my questions are as follows. Mr. Jorgensen, when will the leaders of the EU, you, as one of them, as a Commissioner, will forget about ideology and start on the path of common sense and reason. What have you done so far? Is the second question to reduce energy prices for households and businesses.”
  EU approach to energy security (home-made vs import sources)
• “Radio and television the most important question on this issue is the following. Traditional radio and TV channels have for a long time been in the hands of globalist neoliberal elites. Now they want to tackle freedom in social media. Brussels is preparing to invest huge funds in so-called Democracy Shield, which supposedly are supposed to protect the freedom of expression. But what they're actually doing is stifling dissent. For a long time, we've had so-called fact checkers, which aren't fact checkers. They're policing what people are thinking. If you state something very obvious and social media such as that there are two genders as opposed to 78, or that the UK prevented the peace agreement in 2022, you're declared subversive and you're cancelled. Global elites are doing everything they can to impose politically correct views.”
  Disinformation & online freedoms
• “For hundreds of years, European countries have colonized Africa, exploited local populations, and sold millions of people into slavery. So colonialism and the end of it haven't brought an end to the sovereign suffering. They have suffered the same fate, the African peoples. Have looked to Europe for support, but the countries with no colonial interests, such as Russia and others, have not hesitated to impose great suffering on these countries. But they are more willing in Africa to work with these non-colonial powers than they are with Europeans. Quite often the.”
  EU policy on African region
• “Yes. It is today to bemoan the end of the world order. Uh, you know, people say that there is no more any international order. Well, there has never been any international order. After the Cold War. There was no rule based order. It was always the United States who ruled the order of the day on the pretext of fighting authoritarian regimes and exporting democracy while serving their own interests by introducing puppet governments. And only very foolish people can think that this is a rule based order. You know, take what the United States did in Iraq 20 years ago. What they do now in Iran at the time, Washington, in all of its hypocrisy, insisted that it was all democracy in Iraq. They do not use that language anymore today. They only need someone who would tow their line. Democracy is the last thing they are interested in, either Trump or previous presidents. They never cared about it. All they care about is US supremacy.”
  EU-US relations
• “11:50 – 16:14:11): Thank you, Chair. I'll speak in Bulgaria that People are being prosecuted because they have an opinion that's different to that of the state or because they're politically incorrect. Well, I've read this draft very, very closely but unfortunately I didn't see any specific examples of which people are being prosecuted. So that is why I'm going to give a few examples here. People who have been fined guilty because their views were different to those of the official views. At the end of last year, the EU, there were two European citizens who were sanctioned. There was the Swiss Jacopo and the French that Guillemoure and their assets were frozen and they were not allowed to work with any EU citizens or companies. Jacques Bou is a former intelligence officer and Xavier Moro was a former officer in the French armed forces. They were in Ukraine but they're not using the ideological cliches that you see mostly. They were in Ukraine and they were saying that regardless of how much money Kyiv gets, they will never be able to win. And they were both saying that Russia cannot be defeated on the battlefield regardless of how many arms Zelensky gets. It's only going to be prolonging the war and the suffering of the Ukrainian people. Yet both of those people were sanctioned. And of course no one has to agree with their opinion but what we must do is make sure that we defend the right of European citizens to have different opinions. In Europe, we have the freedom of opinion and that's something that we need to keep.”
  Disinformation & online freedoms
• “Thank you chair. I'll speak in Bulgarian. We are here today to talk about the Christian faith and clergy and about Russian influence among clergy in the former Soviet bloc countries but we should also be paying attention to the situation with the Christian clergy in Ukraine and the situation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church which is the largest Christian denomination in Ukraine. Immediately after the start of the war in Ukraine, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church announced it was severing ties with the Moscow Patriarchate and condemned the war. Still for three and a half years now, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has been persecuted by the government in Kyiv and its temples are being seized and given to the other government adjacent church. I'll give you a few examples. On the 17th of October 2024, several armed persons with masks stormed into the Cathedral Saint Michael the Archangel in Circassia during a nighttime service. The parishioners who tried to resist were insulted and assaulted. Theodosius, which is the Metropolitan Bishop of Circassia Canif, was beaten up and ended up in hospital. On the 7th of May 2024, Luka, the Metropolitan Bishop of Zaporizhzhia Melitopol, was placed under house arrest. It is to ban the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. I'd like to remind you that there was a special law that set the ground for this ban. I'd also like to remind you that freedom of religion is enshrined in Article 10 of the Charter of the Fundamental Rights of the European Union. Lately, we all have been in such a hurry to welcome Ukraine in the Union. We should ask ourselves though, are Kyiv's actions in the area of religious freedom in line with the principles of the European Union? I'd like to hear what you think about that. Thank you.”
  EU engagement with Christian communities inside and outside the EU
• “Thank you, madam chair. Well, if we are to answer the question of how democracy in Europe can be strengthened, we must first have the courage to identify those who are threatening it. Let us not waste our time searching for these threats thousands of kilometers away. The people who are dismantling our democracy are not in Moscow nor they are in Beijing. They are here in Brussels. European democracy is being weakened from within. It is coming under sustained attack from the European Commission, from the leaders of several European states, and from the countless NGOs that claim to speak on behalf of civil society. For years, all these actors have worked to erode pluralism and restrict freedom of expression. The European Union bans media outlets whose views it finds inconvenient. Voices of opposition are increasingly excluded from the public debate. The goal is clear, to impose a single politically correct way of speaking, thinking, and debating. Once media freedom is undermined, political freedom inevitably becomes the next target. Candidates who change the status quo are marginalized, persecuted, and removed from the democratic process. The Romanian politician, Kalin Georgescu, is just the most striking example. And a few days ago, we learned that the so called authority for political parties and foundations plans to ban the Europe of sovereign nations party. The justification offered was an alleged failure to uphold European values. Yet under such a vague standard, any party, any movement, any candidate deemed inconvenient by those in power could become the next target. That's why I say that the greatest threat to European democracy lies not beyond Europe's borders, but it is very hard. The forces that seek to silence opposition media and suppress opposition parties are operating from within our own institutions. If they succeed, we will witness the final demise of democracy in Europe, a demise brought about by Europe's own authorities. Thank you.”
  Disinformation & online freedoms
• “Thank you. Chair. I'll speak in Bulgarian. As I said already, there is no media freedom in the European Union today. I have 30 years of broadcasting experience in radio, TV, papers and magazines, and I can assure you that this can be reversed. We can regain our freedom. And as the editorial media have long ago turned into a propaganda instrument of the Brussels status quo, the important change will come from the independent media, bloggers, podcasters, independent channels and social media. The audiences want to listen to and watch programmes that have not been filtered through by censorship, as is the case with the news programs in the well-known media, politicians and analysts who are rarely invited by the classical media for fear of their politically incorrect speech, are warmly welcome in the non traditional news channels, and these are becoming increasingly popular. They are sought after for the freedom of speech they can offer, and the audiences of the traditional media are dwindling. For the proponents and government officials, appearing them are unbearably dull.”
  Disinformation & online freedoms
• “Brussels is preparing to spend billions and billions of European citizens money in its fight against the terrible, as Brussels describes them, foreign threats. And by now, even children understand that Europe's most frightening enemies are not plotting in Beijing or Tehran, Moscow or Washington. Europe's greatest enemies are here in the capitals of European states. What is more, those who destroy Europe with their fanaticism are in power today in London, Berlin, Paris. We Europeans truly need a democratic shield, but we need a shield that protects us from the ideological blindness of our own rulers. Instead of creating conditions for building hospitals and schools, instead of improving the lives of millions of Europeans. The leaders of the European Union gave €200 billion to Zelensky, and then we'll have to keep giving him more and more, because the Americans have already stopped their financial gifts to Kyiv. The Americans are not stupid, you know. Yes, Europe needs a shield that safeguards democracy and does not allow freedom to be destroyed. Over the past four years, Brussels has made enormous efforts to eradicate every opinion different from the official line. One of the most important achievements of European civilization is the ability of people to speak freely and defend different positions. We must not allow this right to be taken away from us. We must firmly oppose attacks on democracy as well in Europe. Elections are already being cancelled, as happened in 72 Romanian political leaders are being banned from participating in elections, as was done in France. Parties are being targeted from prohibition, as is happening in Germany, all simply because they challenge the status quo, simply because they don't belong to the old and corrupt elites. That is why we urgently need a democratic shield. This shield must protect us not from the fake foreign threats, but from the very real authoritarian tendencies imposed by that very same Brussels. Thank you.”
  EU Supervision of the Rule of Law
• “Brussels is preparing to spend billions and billions of European citizens money in its fight against the terrible, as Brussels describes them, foreign threats. And by now, even children understand that Europe's most frightening enemies are not plotting in Beijing or Tehran, Moscow or Washington. Europe's greatest enemies are here in the capitals of European states. What is more, those who destroy Europe with their fanaticism are in power today in London, Berlin, Paris. We Europeans truly need a democratic shield, but we need a shield that protects us from the ideological blindness of our own rulers. Instead of creating conditions for building hospitals and schools, instead of improving the lives of millions of Europeans, the leaders of the European Union gave €200 billion to Zelensky. And then we'll have to keep giving him more and more, because the Americans have already stopped their financial gifts to Kyiv. The Americans are not stupid, you know. Yes, Europe needs a shield that safeguards democracy and does not allow freedom to be destroyed. Over the past four years, Brussels has made enormous efforts to eradicate every opinion different from the official line. One of the most important achievements of European civilization is the ability of people to speak freely and defend different positions. We must not allow this right to be taken away from us. We must firmly oppose attacks on democracy as well in Europe. Elections are already being cancelled, as happened in Romania. Political leaders are being banned from participating in elections, as was done in France. Parties are being targeted from prohibition, as is happening in Germany, all simply because they challenge the status quo, simply because they don't belong to the old and corrupt elites. That is why we urgently need a democratic shield. This shield must protect us not from the fake foreign threats, but from the very real authoritarian tendencies imposed by that very same Brussels. Thank you.”
  EU Supervision of the Rule of Law
• “Brussels is preparing to spend billions and billions of European citizens money in its fight against the terrible, as Brussels describes them, foreign threats. And by now, even children understand that Europe's most frightening enemies are not plotting in Beijing or Tehran, Moscow or Washington. Europe's greatest enemies are here in the capitals of European states. What is more, those who destroy Europe with their fanaticism are in power today in London, Berlin, Paris. We Europeans truly need a democratic shield, but we need a shield that protects us from the ideological blindness of our own rulers. Instead of creating conditions for building hospitals and schools, instead of improving the lives of millions of Europeans, the leaders of the European Union gave €200 billion to Zelensky. And then we'll have to keep giving him more and more, because the Americans have already stopped their financial gifts to Kyiv. The Americans are not stupid, you know. Yes, Europe needs a shield that safeguards democracy and does not allow freedom to be destroyed. Over the past four years, Brussels has made enormous efforts to eradicate every opinion different from the official line. One of the most important achievements of European civilization is the ability of people to speak freely and defend different positions. We must not allow this right to be taken away from us. We must firmly oppose attacks on democracy as well in Europe. Elections are already being cancelled, as happened in Romania. Political leaders are being banned from participating in elections, as was done in France. Parties are being targeted from prohibition, as is happening in Germany, all simply because they challenge the status quo, simply because they don't belong to the old and corrupt elites. That is why we urgently need a democratic shield. This shield must protect us not from the fake foreign threats, but from the very real authoritarian tendencies imposed by that very same Brussels. Thank you.”
  Disinformation & online freedoms
• “11:50 – 16:14:11): Thank you, Chair. I'll speak in Bulgaria that People are being prosecuted because they have an opinion that's different to that of the state or because they're politically incorrect. Well, I've read this draft very, very closely but unfortunately I didn't see any specific examples of which people are being prosecuted. So that is why I'm going to give a few examples here. People who have been fined guilty because their views were different to those of the official views. At the end of last year, the EU, there were two European citizens who were sanctioned. There was the Swiss Jacopo and the French that Guillemoure and their assets were frozen and they were not allowed to work with any EU citizens or companies. Jacques Bou is a former intelligence officer and Xavier Moro was a former officer in the French armed forces. They were in Ukraine but they're not using the ideological cliches that you see mostly. They were in Ukraine and they were saying that regardless of how much money Kyiv gets, they will never be able to win. And they were both saying that Russia cannot be defeated on the battlefield regardless of how many arms Zelensky gets. It's only going to be prolonging the war and the suffering of the Ukrainian people. Yet both of those people were sanctioned. And of course no one has to agree with their opinion but what we must do is make sure that we defend the right of European citizens to have different opinions. In Europe, we have the freedom of opinion and that's something that we need to keep.”
  EU-Russia relations (from March 2022)