SOFIA, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Bulgaria should remain in the European Union (EU) and speed up its development, caretaker Prime Minister Ognyan Gerdjikov said Thursday.
"Bulgaria will be immensely weaker, poorer and not modern country, if it is outside the EU," Gerdjikov said on the future of Europe.
The country should carefully analyze the five scenarios recently proposed by the European Commission in the White Paper on the Future of Europe, and the answer to the question "What kind of Europe do we want" cannot be given at once, Gerdjikov said.
However, the White Paper should be seen not only as a way to reform the EU, but also as a way to reform Bulgaria, he said.
Bulgaria, which joined the EU on Jan. 1, 2007, has a number of advantages such as stable finance and progressing economy, Gerdjikov said.
Therefore, the country should ask to be included in the most promising plans of Europe at higher speed, he said.
As regards to the multi-speed Europe concept that is present in the White Paper, Gerdjikov said the EU has always existed in many speeds, and gave as examples Schengen and the eurozone.
"Let us not delude ourselves. When talking about the core and periphery of the EU, this is not a talk about geography, not a struggle for profit," he said.
"This is a conversation about our own ambitions and willingness to accelerate our development," Gerdjikov said.
