Deputy Prime Minister Zaharieva met with the top diplomats of Afghanistan, Qatar and Nepal
26 September 2018 News
The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva met in New York with her colleagues from Afghanistan, Qatar and Nepal.
Mrs. Zaharieva was a member of the Bulgarian delegation to the General Assembly of the UN lead by Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.
‘I thank Bulgaria for the support for the effort to rebuild Afghanistan’, Mr. Salahuddin Rabbani said in his opening address to Minister Zaharieva. He praised Bulgarian soldiers as being some of the most highly valued professionals on the ground.
Bulgaria has a military contingent of 160 army officers serving as part of the NATO Resolute Support mission and has made a US$ 1 mln. contribution to the Afghan National Army Trust Fund. Our country further organises courses in the framework of the official assistance for the development of diplomats, police officers and civil servants, with a special requirement for the inclusion of a certain percentage of women in training programmes. Bulgaria is further making contributions to the budgets of various international organisations implementing projects in Afghanistan.
‘We discussed the situation in the country and the forthcoming parliamentary elections. We also welcome the initiative of the Afghan President to launch negotiations with the Taliban’, Minister Zaharieva said. At a meeting with the Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al Thani, a wide range of issues on the international agenda were discussed, with a focus on the political situation in the Gulf and the European Union.
‘We would like to express our gratitude for the pragmatic approach to bilateral relations after the visit of the Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to Bulgaria in March this year. Work on individual projects continues’, Mrs. Zaharieva stated, and her colleague added that he would personally supervise their implementation.
Minister Al Thani offered special congratulations to the Prime Minister Boyko Borisov for the results of the Bulgarian Presidency of the EU and the 16+1 Summit with China. The two leaders discussed the consequences of the withdrawal of the US from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action for Iraq.
In the year when Bulgaria and Nepal are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, a meeting took place in New York between the Foreign Ministers of the two countries — the first of its kind in the last 10 years.
Minister Zaharieva thanked her newly appointed colleague Pradeep Kumar Gyawali for the assistance, which the Himalayan country extended to Bulgaria during the search operation for the legendary Bulgarian mountaineer Boyan Petrov. She invited Mr. Gyawali to visit Sofia.
The Nepalese top diplomat informed his Bulgarian counterpart of the progress of political reforms after the first elections held after the full application of the democratic constitution of the country adopted in 2015. He invited Bulgarian companies to invest in Nepal. Zaharieva and Gyawali noted the traditionally high interest of Bulgarian mountaineers for the Himalayas. In Nepal, an honorary consul represents Bulgaria.
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