Ekaterina Zaharieva receives the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar Sultan bin Saad Al-Muraikhi
09 August 2017 News
Deputy Prime Minister for Judicial Reform and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva today received the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Qatar, Sultan bin Saad Al-Muraikhi, who is on a working visit to Sofia as a part of his Balkan tour.
The two discussed bilateral relations and the situation in the Gulf. Zaharieva assured Al-Muraikhi that Bulgaria favours a resolution of the crisis through diplomatic dialogue. “We pin our hopes on Kuwait’s mediation mission, which enjoys broad international support and epitomises the efforts to overcome the differences within the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf,” Zaharieva added.
“We are visiting a friendly country. We are grateful for Bulgaria’s clear position expressed by Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov,” the Minister of State of Qatar said.
“We have wonderful friendly relations, we are ready to work for their implementation in practice by strengthening economic contacts and two-way trade,” Zaharieva said. In addition, the sides considered the opportunity for Sofia to host the Third Session of the Intergovernmental Commission for Economic and Technological Cooperation between Bulgaria and Qatar.
In Doha, where the EU does not yet have a permanent delegation and there is no Estonian Embassy, Bulgaria took over the local EU Presidency on 1st July. “This means that Bulgaria will preside over the EU in Qatar for one year. Let us use this period to deepen contacts between Qatar and the Union,” Deputy Prime Minister Zaharieva stressed.
Minister Zaharieva and Minister of State Al-Muraikhi also discussed challenges in the area of security, counter-terrorism and energy security.
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