NEWS

Bulgaria and Slovakia Will Work Together to Improve the Energy Security in the Region

Bulgaria and Slovakia share a lot of common positions and priorities on the EU agenda and our country will use Slovakia’s experience during the Bulgarian presidency of the Council of the EU in 2018. This is what President Rosen Plevneliev told journalists in Bratislava after holding talks with Andrej Kiska, president of the Slovak Republic. The Head of State said that Bulgaria and Slovakia support the process of EU enlargement with the Western Balkan countries. Presidents Plevneliev and Kiska voiced hope that this process will be speeded up.

The two leaders discussed the measures for improving the energy connectivity to ensure competitive prices and guarantee the freedom of choosing energy suppliers. Bulgaria and Slovakia work for adopting a common approach in this direction, the Head of State said and reiterated his support for establishing a regional energy market in Southeast Europe. “The countries from the Visegrad group are have entered an advanced stage in the process of achieving energy diversification and ensuring alternative sources of natural gas supply and we have the ambition to widen the scope of  these projects so that Bulgaria, Romania and Greece are included,” the President said. The Head of State also confirmed Bulgaria’s support for the “East ring” project proposed by Slovakia for building a corridor through Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria, which will provide the opportunity for two-directional natural gas supplies, and also the country’s support for the project for building a South-North gas pipeline.
 
The ICT sector was highlighted by the president as another prospective sphere of cooperation between the two countries. “The first scientific-technological park in the Balkans “Sofia Tech Park” is an excellent basis for expanding the cooperation with Slovakia in the high technologies sector,” President Plevneliev said and recalled that the President of Slovakia attended the opening ceremony of  “Sofia Tech Park” in December 2015. “Slovakia is a regional hub in Eastern Europe in the high technologies sector and Bulgaria has the ambition to become such a hub in Southeast Europe. The cooperation between the two countries will attract many more investments and leading companies,” the Head of State further said.

President Rosen Plevneliev is visiting the capital of Slovakia to take part in the Global forum on security issues GLOBSEC 2016. The Head of State will hold talks also with Maros Sefcovic, vice President of the European Commission in charge of the Energy Union.