NEWS

The 12th meeting of the presidents of the countries from the Arraiolos Group will be held on 14 September in the Regional Ethnographic Museum in the town of Plovdiv and on 15 September in the National History Museum in Sofia.

 

Within the forum the state leaders of the parliamentary republics in the EU will discuss the future of united Europe and of the Balkans and also the challenges we are facing today – the migratory crisis, fighting terrorism, Europe after Brexit. On 15 September the participants in the top-level meeting will give a joint news conference in house 2 of the Boyana residence in Sofia. 

 

At the Head of State’s invitation the President of the Federal Republic of Germany Joachim Gauck; of Italy Sergio Mattarella, of the Republic of Latvia Raimonds Vejonis; of the Republic of Malta Marie Louise Coleiro Preca; of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda; of the Portuguese Republic Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa; of the Republic of Slovenia Borut Pahor; of the Republic of Hungary Janos Ader and of the Republic of Finland Sauli Niinisto will visit Bulgaria.   

 

The format will also be attended by the presidents of Austria and Estonia. Bulgaria was invited to join the Arraiolos Group by Poland and Portugal in 2013 and our country was unanimously selected to be host of its next meeting at the group’s meeting in Germany in 2015.  

 

The informal forum for a top-level political dialogue was established in 2003 in the Portuguese town of Arraiolos by the then incumbent president of the country Jorge Sampaio. The format gathers the presidents of the European counties who do not represent their countries in the Council of Europe. The presidents of the EU parliamentary republics discuss topical issues and problems of united Europe. 

The President, as the supreme commander of the Armed Forces, is in constant contact with the relevant Bulgarian institutions and security bodies

The growing hate speech and the retreat from human rights protection were among the main topics of conversation between Bulgarian Head of State Iliana Iotova and American Jewish Committee CEO Theodore Deutch. The two met on the sidelines of the 62nd Munich Security Conference.

Bulgarian Head of State Iliana Iotova conferred with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic. The two met during the 62nd Munich Security Conference.

Bulgarian President Iliana Iotova and her Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev discussed deepening energy cooperation between Bulgaria and Azerbaijan. The two held a meeting within the framework of the 62nd Munich Security Conference.