Bulgaria’s EU accession was beneficial for Bulgaria, but it was also very important for the EU, head of the European Commission (EC) delegation to Bulgaria Dimitris Kourkoulas told Bulgarian national private channel bTV.

EU needed Bulgaria in order to “stabilise more the Balkans and to enrich its own cultural diversity”, Kourkoulas said.

Kourkoulas also said that safeguard clauses were provided in accession treaties of the countries that joined EU in 2004 too. EC invented nothing new for Bulgaria, he said. On number of occasions officials in Bulgaria commented the accompanying measures for Bulgaria’s EU entry were unusual.

EC was willing to protect the interests of both the EU countries and the future EU members by the means of the safeguard clauses, Kourkoulas said.

The safeguard clauses were no punishment or sanction for Bulgaria but an instrument to make the negotiations smoother, Kourkoulas told bTV.