President Rosen Plevneliev held talks with Gjorge Ivanov, President of the Republic of Macedonia, who arrived in Sofia to attend the commemoration service in memory of the first democratically elected president (1990-1997) of Bulgaria Dr. Zhelyu Zhelev.
Extremely active as a Head of State and founder of the Balkan Political Club, Dr. Zhelyu Zhelev worked to ensure closer cooperation and integration of the countries in the region, as an indispensable part of united Europe, it was pointed out at the meeting. President Gjorge Ivanov voiced his gratitude for Bulgaria’s decisive support and personally to president Zhelyu Zhelev for the fact that Bulgaria first recognized Macedonia by its constitutional name.
President Plevneliev emphasized that the top-level delegation from the Republic of Macedonia is an important sign of the good-neighborly and friendly relations that Bulgaria and Macedonia are developing. Our country supports Macedonia’s efforts to ensure a European and Euro-Atlantic integration, the Bulgarian Head of State said. “In the process of European integration, Bulgaria resolved even the most difficult issues concerning the relations with its neighbors. It is time to back words with deeds and sign the good neighbourly agreement which will clearly show the Balkans and Europe that Bulgaria and Macedonia are true friends,” Plevneliev emphasized. President Ivanov voiced Macedonia’s readiness to sign the agreement with Bulgaria.
We live in a dynamic time and we should take up any opportunity to develop our bilateral relations – economic and cultural, to build the transport infrastructure that connects the two countries, President Ivanov said at the meeting. He added that the Republic of Macedonia has a lot of friends in Bulgaria, who would be happy if Bulgarian cultural events are more frequently held and more Bulgarian films are shown.