Bulgaria is grateful for Germany's active support in carrying out the reforms in the judiciary, justice and home affairs. This is what President Rosen Plevneliev said, who held a meeting with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The Head of State emphasized that Germany is Bulgaria’s strategic partner and ally in the EU and NATO.
The reform in the judiciary will reinforce the trust of EU partners, however, its main goal is to meet Bulgarians' expectations for a just and efficient law administration, the President said. The President pointed out that the topic was highlighted during the month of political consultations with the political parties represented in parliament and reiterated his hope that 2015 will be a “year of reforms” regarding the energy, security, healthcare sectors, the pension system and e-government. “The reforms launched in the judiciary are a precondition for improving Bulgaria's image in front of investors and for ensuring more German investments and projects in your country,” Minister Steinmeier said.
President Plevneliev highlighted Bulgaria's ambitions for joining the Single Supervisory Mechanism and gaining acceptance in the transitional Exchange Rate Mechanism ERM II by the time this country assumes the EU Presidency in 2018.
In recent years Germany has established itself as Bulgaria’s leading economic partner in the EU, with bilateral trade exceeding five billion euro annually, it emerged from the meeting. Over 5,000 German companies are working in Bulgaria, while German investments in the past 20 years are worth two billion euros. Bulgaria is also a preferred destination for German tourists and 700,000 Germans visit our country each year. In the President’s view, introducing e-government and creating an electronic register of the public procurements will increase the transparency in choosing contractors.
“Bulgaria is working on the recommendations included in the European Commission's latest report on Bulgaria under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism and the EC is our loyal partner,” the Head of State assured at the meeting.
Rosen Plevneliev told Frank-Walter Steinmeier that our country has met the technical criteria for joining the Schengen zone, which is also confirmed by the European Commission and European Parliament. “Bulgaria expects that this will also be acknowledged by the EU partners,” the President said. Lifting the border control at the airports is the first possible step in this direction.
Rosen Plevneliev and Frank-Walter Steinmeier agreed that the establishment of a common European Energy Union must become a main objective for the EU Member States in the coming years. The Head of Stated highlighted the importance of focusing the EU energy strategy on the region of Southeast Europe, which is one of the “entrances” for transmitting energy to Europe. “Liberalizing the energy sector, energy efficiency and improving the security of gas supplies through diversification of the sources and routes by building reverse inter-connectors with neighboring countries, remain priorities for Bulgaria,” the President said.
The Bulgarian Head of State highlighted the efforts made by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Minister Steinmeier for finding a peaceful and lasting solution to the Ukraine crisis. The two shared the opinion that the annexation of Crimea and the conflict in Eastern Ukraine have changed the security environment not only in the region of East and Southeast Europe, but also in all EU member states and therefore the EU should “speak in one voice” on the Ukrainian crisis. The two called on for obeying the truce, as well as completely fulfilling the agreements reached in Minsk.
On their meeting's agenda were also EU enlargement and the threats and increased refugee flow, resulting from the terrorist activities of Islamic State. President Plevneliev once again called on for pursuing a common European policy and sharing the responsibility for coping with the refugee flow along the external EU borders.