Head of State Rosen Plevneliev and British Foreign Minister Philip Hammond, who is on a visit to Bulgaria at the invitation of the Bulgarian foreign minister, discussed the reform in the European Union and the cooperation between Bulgaria and Great Britain within the framework of the EU and NATO.
President Rosen Plevneliev and Philip Hammond voiced their support for taking prompt measures to complete the single European market, which will increase the EU’s competitiveness after a period of an economic and financial crisis and will ensure economic growth and job creation. The EU should be reformed so as to boost the efficiency of the European institutions, to liberalize the regulations and restructure the labor market. EU member states should take specific measures to achieve this ambitious aim. The EU should be reformed in order to preserve the trust of the European people and to face the challenges of the 21st century, the British foreign minister commented.
Within the context of the efforts to achieve a more competitive Europe, Bulgaria supports the talks between the EU and the United States on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the Head of State pointed out. The British Secretary of State, for his part, commented that the successful talks on the agreement will make it possible for Europe to retain its positions in the world markets under conditions of fierce global competition.
Rosen Plevneliev and Philip Hammond discussed the energy security of Europe and the Southeast European countries. The necessity to speed up the diversification not only of the sources but also of the routes for supplying energy resources was highlighted and funds provided by the European Commission’s Strategic Investment Plan may be efficiently used to this effect. At the meeting it also became clear that Bulgaria would rely on British support for financing the projects on the construction of interconnectors in the energy grids, which our country presented to the European Commission for financing.
Before the Bulgarian Head of State the British Foreign Minister also raised the issue concerning the fulfillment of Bulgaria’s commitments related to defense expenses, in line with the decisions made at the NATO summit in Wales in September 2014. President Rosen Plevneliev agreed that the targets in the 2015 state budget allocations on defense fail to meet the assumed NATO commitments and voiced hope that extra funds for modernizing the Armed Forces would be provided.