NEWS

President Radev: The Middle East Conflict may be Resolved Only through Bilateral Negotiations

Bulgaria attributes great importance to its relations with Palestine and will continue working for their comprehensive development, President Rumen Radev said after the meeting with his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas held in Ramallah. The Bulgarian Head of State was welcomed with an official ceremony in the presidential palace within his official visit to Palestine. The top-level active political dialogue is essential for the subsequent expansion of the partnership in all spheres of mutual interest and therefore I will be happy if President Abbas visits Bulgaria, Rumen Radev said.

Both Presidents identified the bilateral cooperation in education as a sphere in which the good traditions should be continued. More than 5,000 Palestinian citizens have taken their university degree in Bulgaria and many of them hold important state positions in the Palestinian administration and are leading figures in their professional sphere. Rumen Radev also highlighted the opportunity for the development of trade cooperation, for organizing joint business forums and encouraging the contacts between the business circles from Bulgaria and Palestine.

The Bulgarian Head of State emphasized that our country will continue to support the efforts of the international community directed at resuming the negotiation process between Israel and Palestine, which has no alternative. Rumen Radev said that Bulgaria closely adheres to the EU’s clearly expressed positions and that a long-term and sustainable solution of the Middle East peace process can be achieved only on the basis of the principle of two independent countries, living in peace, security and understanding.

“Without assuming the role of an intermediary, I conveyed to President Abbas the wishes of Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for constructive and peaceful relations,” Rumen Radev said.

During the meeting of the two Presidents in Ramallah, the good bilateral cooperation in the spheres of security and fighting terrorism was highlighted.

President Abbas highly appreciated the EU’s and the member states’ constructive policy vis-à-vis the Middle East peace process and the Union’s considerable support for the Palestinian people in building its institutions. The Palestinian Head of State said that his country is always ready to resume the negotiation process, which is the only legitimate tool for finding a sustainable solution, but it will not accept solutions that are not within the legitimacy of international law, the positions of the UN General Assembly and Security Council.