Minister Zaharieva meets her Maltese counterpart
05 February 2018 News
Bulgaria and Malta share many views in common and can only build upon the present state of relations by boosting bilateral trade and exchanging more tourists and students. That was the message Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva addressed in welcome to her guest, Carmelo Abela, the Maltese Minister of Foreign Relations and Trade Promotion.
‘Thank you for your hospitality, Katerina! I salute Bulgaria for the excellent job it has done in the context of its Presidency of the Council of the EU. It will be a pleasure for us to keep on working together in the coming 5 months,’ said for his part Malta’s top diplomat. Carmelo Abela was in Bulgaria as part of the official delegation led by Maltese President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca visiting Bulgaria.
‘Dear Carmelo, I am happy to welcome you in Sofia only a week before I greet you again at the Gymnich informal meeting of the EU foreign ministers within the framework of the Bulgarian Presidency. I thank you for your friendship and for sharing with me, now as well as back when I was a Minister of Justice, your experience with the Maltese Presidency,’ Minister Zaharieva said.
The Deputy Prime Minister emphasized that both countries have many common positions on the most pressing matters on the European agenda. At their meeting today, the Ministers discussed matters related to Brexit, the future of the Union, the negotiations on the next EU budget and the European migration policy.
During the talks, Minister Abela underscored Malta’s support for one of the key priorities of the Bulgarian Presidency: the European perspective of the Western Balkans.
‘The European perspective is the only chance for stability and prosperity of the region. This priority should not be forgotten once our Presidency ends, and I hope it will remain a long-term commitment for the EU,’ Bulgaria’s top diplomat said.
On the matter of Brexit, Zaharieva emphasized her hope that the unity shown by the 27 members at the first phase of the negotiations would continue in the following stage. The two Ministers agreed that reaching an even broader agreement on the future relations of the EU with the United Kingdom, one that transcends the domains of trade and security, would correspond to that country’s high strategic importance for Europe.
‘We must have a debate as to which policy brings more added value to all member states and, first and foremost, to the citizens of the Union, and only then we can start talking about the allocation of funds,’ Zaharieva noted about the Multiannual Financial Framework of the EU. She went on to say that for Bulgaria, the policies of solidarity and cohesion are essential for the meaning of the European project and the key to its success.
On the subject of the EU migration policy, the two Ministers agreed that the borderline states, which form the EU’s first line of defense, should not bear the brunt of responsibility all by themselves. What is needed is the solidarity of all member states.
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