NEWS

President Rosen Plevneliev calls for the acceleration of Bulgarian – German cooperation at all levels

Bulgarian-German cooperation should be accelerated at all levels. We have very solid foundations, they can and should be upgraded, President Rosen Plevneliev said today. During the second day of his official visit to Germany, President Plevneliev spoke with his German counterpart, Joachim Gauck. President Plevneliev emphasised the increasing volume of bilateral trade in recent years, which in 2011 reached 4.5 billion euro. This means that Bulgaria is producing more and better goods, he said. During the meeting, the two presidents exchanged views on measures for growth and employment and reforms undertaken in the EU. The decision that Bulgaria had taken was for more resources for accelerated growth and structural reforms, President Plevneliev said.

President Plevneliev declared Bulgaria's support for the European integration processes of the Western Balkans. The voice of Bulgaria will certainly be heard more strongly now, because our country is an active member of the European family, which enables good European solutions to regional problems, he said.

Speaking to Bulgarian journalists in Berlin, President Plevneliev reiterated that Bulgaria is an example of stability and financial discipline, which was confirmed yesterday by the international financial markets. Bulgaria has managed to sell five-year issue Eurobonds worth 950 million euro at an annual rate of just 4.25 per cent, and investor demand exceeded supply by six times. The President congratulated the Government and the Minister of Finance on the result achieved, adding that low interest rates on government bonds are a prerequisite for reducing interest rates on loans for people and businesses thanks to high investor confidence.

In talks with President Gauck, President Plevneliev promoted the idea of creating a State Security Museum similar to the Museum of Socialist Art in Sofia. Such a project could be implemented within two years, President Plevneliev said. He has invited his German counterpart to visit Bulgaria. “Germany is a strong supporter of a sustainable trend of transparency of institutions in Bulgaria and ever-increasing opportunities for civil society organizations to participate in making socially important decisions,” the President said, and gave the example of the practices at the Presidency to enable more openness and transparency.

Answering a question from a journalist, the President said that there is still a possibility that the transformation processes in the Syrian Arab Republic could happen peacefully and Bulgaria would continue to work in this direction. "It is abundantly clear that this conflict could have dramatic consequences for the entire region, so we are being very careful,” he said.