The Bulgarian Head of State is paying his first official visit to a country from Southeast Europe
“Bulgaria and Greece are connected by a strategic partnership both in terms of bilateral relations and within the EU and NATO. The two countries are an example of good-neighborly relations in the Balkans, based on common European values.” This is what Head of State Rumen Radev said, who is on a state visit in the Republic of Greece at the invitation of his Greek counterpart Prokopis Pavlopoulos. This is Rumen Radev’s first visit to Southeast Europe since he took office as Head of State.
The bilateral trade between Bulgaria and Greece reached 3 billion euros in 2016 and the two countries will continue to encourage the contacts between the business circles, President Radev emphasized. “The development of the energy and transport connections is of considerable importance for boosting trade and tourism,” the Bulgarian Head of State further said and called for finishing the construction of the infrastructure of the current border check- points and building new ones. 1 100 000 Greek citizens visited Bulgaria in 2016 and 1 200 000 Bulgarians chose to spend their holidays in Greece.
“These are real indicators of the good relations between the two countries. Millions of citizens of the two countries freely travel, rest, work and study on the territory of their neighbor,” the Bulgarian President emphasized.
The Head of State voiced his position that the construction of a gas inter-connector, connecting the gas transmission networks of Greece and Bulgaria, is of paramount importance not only for our country, but also for the region. Rumen Radev called for implementing this project on schedule, which will make it possible not only for Bulgaria, but also for the Central and East-European countries to diversify the gas supply sources and routes.
President Pavlopoulos highlighted the importance of the fact that Bulgarian Head of State Rumen Radev’s first visit is namely to Greece and confirmed his country’s support for Bulgaria’s accession to the Schengen area. “This is of paramount importance for Bulgaria, since it is the only way we can guarantee an effective fight against illegal human trafficking and against terrorism. It is high time that the rest of the EU Member States realized this, too,” Rumen Radev said.
At the talks held with President Pavlopoulos, President Radev also highlighted the two countries’ efforts to cope with illegal migration, to fight terrorism and to strengthen the cooperation between Bulgaria’s and Greece’s armed forces as a key factor guaranteeing the stability in our region.
The two Presidents were unanimous that Bulgaria and Greece will continue to work together to serve the interest of a stronger and more stable European Union, because this is the future of Europe. The two shared the opinion that the two countries will continue to support the European integration process of their Western Balkan neighbors. President Pavlopoulos emphasized that a prerequisite for this support is that “our neighbors must above all respect international law, the European achievements, and also history, which is evidence of good-neighborly relations.” “As for the Balkan countries’ European prospects, we share the same opinion. They must meet the membership criteria and what is considerably important for the Balkans – the good-neighborly relations and mutual respect for history should be an obligatory condition for starting the membership negotiations,” Rumen Radev added.
In Athens Rumen Radev laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and was later welcomed with a formal ceremony in front of the Presidential Palace in Athens, where together with the Greek President they reviewed the Guard of Honor.
Within his visit, President Radev will hold meetings with Parliament Speaker Nikos Voutsis and also with the Mayor of Athens Georgios Kaminis.
Later today, President Rumen Radev will talk with Bulgarians living in Greece in the Bulgarian Embassy in the Greek capital.
During his visit in Athens, the Bulgarian President is accompanied by Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova and deputy Foreign Minister Emilia Kraleva.