NEWS

President Plevneliev in Kiev: Bulgaria Supports Ukraine’s European Prospects

Bulgaria will work for ensuring that the EU adopts a strong and unified position on guaranteeing Ukraine’s territorial integrity and will support the country’s democratic and European road. This is what President Plevneliev said at a news conference with his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko in Kiev, where the Bulgarian Head of State is on a two-day visit. The two presidents held a face-to-face meeting, after which plenary talks between the two delegations were held.

“No one has the right to move borders by force and occupy foreign territories – Europe’s future lies in removing borders,” Rosen Plevneliev said. Bulgaria supports Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and calls on for strictly fulfilling the Minsk agreements for overcoming the crisis in the country’s eastern part, the Head of State further said. The President was adamant that the annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol by the Russian Federation violates international law, Ukraine’s constitution and the Budapest memorandum of 1994. Bulgaria does not recognize the results from the referendum organized by the self-proclaimed authorities in Donetsk and Luhansk. “For Bulgaria Crimea is Ukraine, and Ukraine is Europe,” Rosen Plevneliev said.

“We firmly support Ukraine’s European prospects,” the President further added. Rosen Plevneliev said that the visa requirements for Ukraine should soon be promptly dropped. Petro Poroshenko, for his part, voiced his gratitude for Bulgaria’s support for the territorial integrity and European orientation of the country. The two presidents said that Bulgaria’s EU membership and the reforms undertaken in our country have improved the country’s economic indicators, the investment climate and the standard of living.

The opportunities for strengthening the economic ties and tourism between the two countries were discussed at the meeting. Petro Poroshenko and Rosen Plevneliev highlighted that Bulgaria and Ukraine, together with Romania, may launch joint projects by implementing EU funding, including projects which will improve the Bulgarian community’s standard of living. The Ukrainian Head of State assured that soon work will start on building a transport corridor which will start from Odessa and then connect Romania and Bulgaria. President Plevneliev added that work will be done to resume the functioning of the ferryboat line between Varna and Ilichovsk and gave as an example how the already functioning ship line between Burgas and the Georgian town of Poti has made Bulgaria the second biggest export market for Georgia. The opportunity for opening a direct airline between Sofia and Kiev was also discussed at the meeting.

The two presidents discussed the opportunities for encouraging the activity of the organizations of the Ukrainian Bulgarians and the cultural and educational associations in the country. The Bulgarian community in Ukraine which consists of 250,000 people and the two countries will pool efforts to integrate the Bulgarian minority, the two presidents assured. “No matter what kind of reforms – constitutional or administrative – are launched here in Ukraine, we are sure that they will be conducted in a European manner and will help the Bulgarian community to integrate well and preserve its strong ties with Bulgaria,” President Plevneliev said. We highly appreciate the Ukrainian government’s policy on learning Bulgarian, Bulgarian studies are well-developed in the universities of Kiev, Kharkov, Lvov and Odessa, the President said. Petro Poroshenko, for his part, said that the launched projects on decentralization will guarantee the rights of the minorities in Ukraine. “We conduct reforms based on the European experience,” Poroshenko said.
The two presidents attended the signing of a minute of bilateral cooperation between the Education and Science Ministries of the two countries, which will promote educational exchange between Bulgaria and Ukraine until 2019. The document envisages an exchange of postgraduate students, students and PhD students for a full term of study; an exchange of lecturers in Bulgarian and Ukrainian and providing assistance for the educational activities of the Bulgarian community in Ukraine.

Before the meeting with the Ukrainian president, Rosen Plevneliev paid tribute to the memory of the victims of the widespread famine in Ukraine in 1932-1933. The Head of State laid flowers in front of the Cross of the heroes of the “heavenly hundred” to commemorate the citizens who died in the events that unfolded in the period November 2013 – February 2014 in Ukraine.