On 22 February 2011 the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria Nickolay Mladenov paid a visit to Denmark.

Minister Mladenov met and held talks with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Denmark Lene Espersen, with the Minister of Justice Lars Barfoed and with the Minister of the Interior Bertel Haarder. Minister Mladenov was also received by the President of the Danish Parliament Thor Pedersen.

During the talks at the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Minister Espersen briefed her Bulgarian colleague about the priorities of the upcoming Danish presidency of the EU in the first half of 2012 among which stood out the negotiations for a new financial framework for the Union. The two ministers also discussed energy security and the process of EU enlargement.

Minister Mladenov informed his host about the preparations underway in Bulgaria to accede to the Schengen area. The Danish position on that issue is that the decision about the accession should be based upon the fulfillment of the Schengen agreement criteria. The approach of Denmark to the issue is entirely legal and is not influenced by other issues and forms of cooperation.
The two foreign ministers discussed a number of other issues related to the common foreign policy of the EU, like the situation in the Arab countries of North Africa, the Middle East and in Afghanistan.
M
inister Mladenov and Minister Espersen expressed their mutual satisfaction with the intensive development of the bilateral relations and noted the 80th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries (17 April 1931). The long history of the bilateral relations together with the common membership in NATO and the EU represent a solid basis for the further development of the bilateral cooperation in all spheres. Minister Mladenov and Minister Espersen issued a Joint Statement on this subject.

During his visit Minister Mladenov was received by the President of the Danish Parliament (Folketinget), Mr. Thor Pedersen, after which he held a meeting with Members of the Foreign Policy and the European Affairs Committees of the Parliament. Minister Mladenov presented to the Danish MPs the domestic policy priorities of the Bulgarian government and outlined a number of foreign policy issues. During the discussions Minister Mladenov briefed the MPs on the preparations of Bulgaria to join the Schengen agreement.

Minister Nickolay Mladenov and the Minister of the Interior of Denmark Bertel Haarder, together with the Director of the Danish National Museum Per Kristian Madsen opened at the Museum of Danish Resistance, 1940 – 1945, the exhibition “The Power of Civil Society: the Fate of Jews in Bulgaria”. The exhibition focuses on the social processes in Bulgaria during World War II that led to the salvation of the Bulgarian Jews from the Holocaust. Twenty one panels with photographs, copies of original documents and texts follow the unfolding of events at the domestic and international scene, the position of the official authorities and the response of the Bulgarian society. The exhibition is compiled by the State Institute for Culture with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in cooperation with the Centre for Jewish Studies at the Sofia “St. Kliment Ohridski” University.

Representatives of the Danish political, diplomatic and cultural circles, journalists, foreign diplomats among them the Ambassadors to Denmark of the USA, Russia, Japan, Israel and the EU member-states, as well as representatives of the Bulgarian community in Denmark, intellectuals and students attended the opening of the exhibition. 

The Museum of Danish Resistance 1940 – 1945 will host the exhibition until the first half of April 2011.