Bulgaria EU President for six months

brussels - Bulgaria is the new temporary President of the EU. It is the first time that the former Eastern Bloc fulfills that role for six months, exactly eleven years after it joined the union on 1 January 2007.

A temporary EU President determines the agenda, sets priorities and plays an important role in getting all ministers to agree. The Bulgarians take over the baton from Estonia.

The Bulgarian government of pro-European Prime Minister Bojko Borisov thinks it is 'a great honor but also a great responsibility'. The country is not directly ahead in the EU. It is one of the poorest Member States with the lowest life expectancy. It is not in the Schengen or euro zone. Brussels recently told Sofia to investigate complaints about corruption.

But the presidency also offers opportunities to profile itself. The Bulgarians also organize 300 events in their own country as part of the EU program. The agenda includes clean energy, EU funding after the departure of the British and a Western Balkan summit.