Canada: We are proud of Bulgaria’s participation in the International Organisation of the Francophonie
23 September 2018 News
‘We are very proud of Bulgaria’s participation in the International Organisation of the Francophonie’, the Canadian Minister for Tourism, Official Languages and Francophonie Mélanie Joly said at a meeting with the Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva.
Minister Zaharieva is on a working visit to Montreal, Canada, where she is taking part in the World Meeting of Female Foreign Ministers, an initiative that is the first of its kind.
‘Bulgaria joined the International Organisation of the Francophonie as an associated member immediately after the fall of the communist regime in 1991 and became a full member of the organisation in 1993. This was a significant step in our country’s return to Europe, and a stepping stone for its accession to the European Union,’ Minister Zaharieva emphasized. ‘Today, French is the fourth most popular language among schoolchildren in Bulgaria and last year, 25 596 young people were studying French while 10 Bulgarian universities are members of the Francophone network.’
Minister Joly also noted that she expected a growing number of Bulgarians to visit Canada as tourists, particularly after the waiver of the short-term visa requirements for all categories of Bulgarian citizens on 1 December 2017. According to the official statistics of the competent Canadian authorities, following the waiver of visa requirements, the number of infringements of immigration rules and other irregularities in the applications of Bulgarians travelling or wishing to settle in Canada is extremely low and significantly below the critical thresholds.
Minister Zaharieva renewed the Bulgarian government’s invitation to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to visit Bulgaria and highlighted the advantages of our country as a tourist destination — ranking third in terms of cultural heritage in Europe, second in terms of thermal springs and offering many opportunities for both summer and winter recreation and tourism.
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