EU should not cut cohesion funds: Bulgarian president

SOFIA, May 3 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) should not reduce the amount of its cohesion funds, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev said here on Thursday after a meeting with his Austrian counterpart Alexander Van der Bellen.

"I think that the European security and defense are an absolute priority, but without cohesion, without real convergence, we risk deepening divisions within Europe," Radev said at a joint press conference when answering a question on the long-term budget proposed by the European Commission on Wednesday.

This was unacceptable, because in such a situation defense and security would lose their meaning, Radev said.

Therefore, Bulgaria's position was that cohesion funds "are the last thing that can be reduced," Radev said.

Van der Bellen echoed that EU's solidarity and cooperation funds were not only in the interest of the recipients but also of the donors.

The countries that gave the money had an interest in continuing the process of narrowing the gaps between the EU countries, he added.

On Wednesday, the European Commission proposed more investment in areas such as security, while reducing by around 5 percent the money for agriculture and cohesion.

On Friday in the Danube town of Ruse, the two presidents will hold an informal meeting with their Romanian counterpart. Enditem