NEWS

Bulgaria and Austria have common plans and aims we strive to achieve, not only in terms of bilateral relations, but also on the European scene. This is what President Rosen Plevneliev said after the meeting he held with Austria’s Federal President Heinz Fischer in the Hofburg palace in Vienna. After the talks the Bulgarian Head of State highlighted the active political dialogue and the excellent bilateral relations between Bulgaria and Austria, where he is on a two-day working visit.

 

At the meeting Presidents Plevneliev and Fischer voiced the common position of the two countries in support of the European integration of the West Balkans. The ways to speed up the process in the region were also discussed. “Together with President Fischer we place the integration of the West Balkans in the center of our policy. Austria is an engine of this integration and we once again discussed the ways in which we can contribute to speeding up the process in the countries in the region,” President Plevneliev said. “We think that the integration process will be completed when this part of Europe is integrated,” Federal President Fischer, for his part, said after the meeting. 

 

The situation in Ukraine was also discussed at the meeting. President Plevneliev reiterated his position in support of a peaceful and democratic solution to the crisis in Ukraine by observing the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the country. In Heinz Fischer’s view, the development of the situation in Ukraine in the past year has shown that international law should be observed and the problems should be solved by means of negotiations, not by using military force. The Austrian President voiced his hope that the agreements reached in Minsk will be observed.

 

As for the economic cooperation between Bulgaria and Austria, President Plevneliev pointed out that there is a potential to strengthen it. In his opinion, proof of this fact is that representatives of more than 250 companies have voiced their intention to attend the forum organized by the Austrian Industrial Chamber today, which the Head of State will take part in. 

 

Rosen Plevneliev pointed out that Austria is still among the leading investors in Bulgaria. In the 1996-2014 period the Austrian investments in Bulgaria amounted to almost six billion euros, which are basically directed to the electricity distribution, telecommunications, energy, banking and finance, trade, heavy and light industry sectors. “We have even greater ambitions and together we will work to ensure a new wave of Austrian investments in Bulgaria,” the Bulgarian Head of State said. Federal President Fischer also highlighted the good economic cooperation between Bulgaria and Austria and voiced hope that an even closer bilateral dialogue will be held in the future. “Currently we are partners in the European family – something we could not imagine 30 years ago,” Fischer added.

 

At his meeting with Heinz Fischer, President Rosen Plevneliev shared the Bulgarian plans related to the urgent reforms to be conducted in the justice, energy, education, Security sectors, the pension system so that the expectations of the Bulgarian people and the European investors can be met. “We are holding an extremely intense dialogue and this is a condition ensuring even better results,” President Plevneliev added.

 

President Plevneliev’s visit will continue tomorrow with a meeting with Dr. Erwin Proll, prime minister of the Federal province Lower Austria in the town of Sankt Polten. Later, at an official ceremony, the Head of State will be presented with the ERI prix award for his contribution to preserving the diversity and equality of the regions on their road to united Europe.        

 

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