Prime Minister Glavchev: Bulgaria’s accession to the OECD is a top foreign policy priority
02 May 2024 News
Bulgaria’s accession to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) helps us bring the national policies in line with the highest global standards. As a future OECD member, Bulgaria will do its best to disseminate the OECD best practices and policies in South-East Europe. The statement was made by Dimitar Glavchev, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, in his speech at the Meeting of the OECD Council at Ministerial Level in Paris.
Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev reiterated Bulgaria’s top foreign policy priority, which is accession to the OECD, along with accession to the Eurozone and full-fledged membership in the Schengen area, including Schengen land borders. “Bulgaria will continue to be a steady and reliable partner,” Mr. Glavchev emphasized. In his view, work on all Bulgarian priority policies at the national level and within the EU – education, digitalization, green transition and circular economy – will provide a further assurance and impetus to the successful finalization of the OECD accession negotiations.
In the understanding of Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev, the accession process plays the key role of a driving force to speed up the reforms and of a transformational force that Bulgaria currently needs. In addition, Bulgaria’s active dialog with the OECD is a chance to find solutions to improve the efficiency of public policies. “The process of preparation and the accession of Bulgaria to the OECD will contribute to our efforts to build better policies for better lives,” the Prime Minister said further. As he put it, it is now particularly important for Bulgaria to ensure conditions for holding fair, transparent and free elections. This is exactly the commitment made by the caretaker cabinet, which is now in office.
Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev noted Bulgaria’s consistent and predictable foreign policy with its underlying Euro-Atlantic values. In his speech, the Prime Minister underlined Russia’s war against Ukraine. “We must continue to deepen our cooperation to meet the pressing challenges and opportunities of our time. Together, we must do more to ensure, peace, stability and prosperity at regional and global level, including through our support for Ukraine,” the Prime Minister said. In his view, an integrated approach is needed, as are joint and coordinated efforts to meet the new challenges that pose obstacles to the development of the global economy and to the maintenance of world peace and security.