Bulgaria and Slovakia have good traditions and serious achievements in the ICT sectors and the production of components for the car industry and will promote mutual investments in these rapidly developing sectors. This is what emerged at a joint news conference of Presidents Rosen Plevneliev and Andrej Kiska, who held talks at 2 Dondukov street today. The President of the Slovak Republic Andrej Kiska is on a two-day official visit to Bulgaria at the invitation of the Bulgarian Head of State.
“The two of us together with President Kiska are personally committed to the development of information technologies,” President Rosen Plevneliev highlighted. Tomorrow the heads of state will open together the first Bulgarian innovative ecosystem Sofia Tech Park and will attend a forum with representatives of the Bulgarian and Slovak business. In President Plevneliev’s words, Sofia Tech Park, as a platform for the development and transfer of high technologies, opens up opportunities not only for Bulgaria, but also for launching new companies from the region of Southeast Europe. The Head of State once again recalled that our country is a leading outsourcing destination in Europe, having created 35,000 jobs and has the ambition to double them in the next years.
The two presidents further highlighted the potential machine building, agriculture and food production have for implementing joint projects and entering third markets. The bilateral trade approximated 500 million euros in 2014 and the number of Slovak tourists exceeds 70,000. “Slovakia has a developed car industry and we can share our experience in this sector with Bulgaria,” Andrej Kiska said.
The diversification of the sources and routes for natural gas supply is a common priority for both countries, it was further highlighted at the news conference. Bulgaria and Slovakia were among the most affected countries by the gas crisis in 2009 and President Plevneliev emphasized that the construction of reverse-flow interconnectors with the neighboring countries is of key importance for our country. An investment decision for the Bulgaria-Greece interconnector is due to be signed today in Sofia, which will connect the Bulgarian gas-transit system with the South Gas Corridor and the Trans Adriatic Gas Pipeline for the supply of natural gas from the Caspian region. Bulgaria will also work to ensure that the South-North Gas Corridor is implemented.
Both Rosen Plevneliev and Andrej Kiska voiced their support for observing the European rules when discussing the project on the construction of the North Stream 2 gas pipeline, taking into consideration the East European countries’ positions as well.
“We also share the opinion that it is necessary to speed up the establishment of a European Energy Union,” Rosen Plevneliev said. The Head of State pointed out that the electricity market in Bulgaria will be fully liberalized in a couple of months and our country is also working to ensure the creation of a regional energy bourse, following the example set by the countries from the Visegrad four.
Bulgaria and Slovakia will cooperate in preparing the NATO summit in Warsaw in July 2016 and in ensuring the long-term adaptation of the Alliance to the changed security environment, the Bulgarian Head of State further said at the news conference. The two countries’ commitments to implementing the decisions made in Wales to strengthen NATO’s defense capabilities and to guarantee the same security for all allies were confirmed. Rosen Plevneliev voiced our country’s support for setting up NATO Coordination Centers in Slovakia and Hungary, which together with the already established centers in Bulgaria and another five countries on the eastern flank, are an important step towards strengthening the Alliance’s defense capabilities. “The joint military exercises conducted at the Shabla training ground are an expression of our common willingness to deepen our military cooperation,” President Plevneliev added.
The two presidents called on for directing the efforts of the EU member states toward resolving the root causes for the conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa, not postponing taking measures until the refugees reach our borders. “We also need a mechanism to draw a distinction between refugees and economic immigrants,” Rosen Plevneliev said. The two shared the opinion that no single state can cope with the migration crisis in Europe on its own and that a common European approach should be adopted.
Rosen Plevneliev thanked for Slovakia’s consistent support for Bulgaria’s accession to the Schengen area and emphasized that our country has proved that it protects “the external EU border in a worthy and reliable manner.” In the Head of State’s words, everyone will benefit if Bulgaria and Romania join the Schengen zone and the European family will become stronger and more efficient.
The two presidents have agreed on a closer cooperation on the issues of the EU presidency. Slovakia will take over the presidency in the second half of 2016 and Bulgaria – in the second half of 2018.
In the coat-of-arms hall at 2 Dondukov street bilateral agreements in the energy efficiency, energy savings and renewable energy sectors were signed, as well as on promoting the cooperation between Bulgaria and Slovakia in the spheres of education, science and culture. Also a memorandum on understanding and cooperation between Sofia Tech Park and the Slovak Innovation and Energy Agency were signed.