NEWS

Bulgaria, Greece and Romania will work for a stronger voice for South East Europe in the EU

Bulgaria, Greece and Romania should take concrete steps to consolidate the voice of European Union member countries from South Eastern Europe in the EU. This call was made by President Rosen Plevneliev and the foreign ministers of the three countries, Nickolay Mladenov, Dimitris Avramopoulos and Titus Corl??ean, who met today at the Presidency at 2 Dondoukov Boulevard. The three countries intend to establish a permanent mechanism for co-ordination on all matters related to the European agenda, regional co-operation and security, it was also said during the meeting.

The President emphasised that with Croatia's accession to the EU, member states of the Union in the Balkans will have an overall responsibility for the preservation of the region's advantages to attract more investment, and also regarding the enlargement process. Bulgaria, Greece and Romania share a common vision and joint projects to further strengthen regional co-operation, implementation of which will contribute to the common future of all countries of South East Europe in the EU, the participants in the meeting agreed. They said that the progress of each country applying for membership of the EU should be evaluated on the basis of successful achievements in meeting the criteria for membership, along with the development of good neighbourly relations.

The forthcoming Greek presidency of the EU and the EU presidencies of Bulgaria in 2018 and Romania in 2019 also create favourable conditions for deepening mutual co-operation on the EU agenda, the participants in the meeting said. They said that exchanges diplomats from the member states of the region during the EU presidencies of their neighbours could become a practice.

They agreed that the EU Cohesion Policy should retain its potential as a growth factor in the current economic crisis. Bulgaria and other EU member states in the region believe that it is necessary to maintain the financial instruments that promote the overcoming of differences among regions in economic development. “The success of the EU Cohesion Policy will be crucial for limiting immigration from the region to the more developed member states,” Romanian Foreign Minister Titus Corl??ean said.

Ministers Mladenov and Corl??ean expressed Bulgaria’s and Romania’s gratitude for the constructive position of Greece and its support for the two countries to join the Schengen visa zone as soon as possible.