Deputy Prime Minister Zaharieva meets with members of both chambers of US Congress, raises issue of visas and social agreement
04 April 2019 News
The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva had two meetings in Washington DC with US legislators. She met and spoke with Ron Johnson, Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and Chairman of the Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation within the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as well as with Michael McCaul, the ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
‘I would like to stress the excellent cooperation between Bulgaria and the US and the ever widening spectrum of areas where we have an ongoing dialog,’ stated Minister Zaharieva during her meeting with Ron Johnson. The two sides expressed satisfaction with the high level of strategic partnership between Bulgaria and the US and underscored their mutual willingness for that dialog to continue.
Among the key topics discussed was the inclusion of Bulgaria in the US Visa Waiver Program, the two countries good cooperation in the area of security and defense, the talks for obtaining an invitation for membership of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the signing of a Social Agreement between the two countries, as well as their partnership in the area of energy security.
Ekaterina Zaharieva outlined the Bulgarian efforts for European integration of the Western Balkans, which was one of the key priorities of the successfully completed Bulgarian presidency of the Council of the EU. She thanked Senator Johnson for his commitment to the issues of our region.
‘It took great courage for an agreement to be reached between North Macedonia and Greece; I welcome the resolution of the border issue between Kosovo and Montenegro, and we hope for the dialog between Belgrade and Pristina to continue,’ said Senator Johnson.
‘All of these processes in the Balkans started with the Treaty on Friendship between Sofia and Skopje, which was the first to sen an example that we in the Balkans can solve our problems by ourselves,’ said Deputy Prime Minister Zaharieva.
The two parties went on to discuss a range of current issues in the context of the common security and the role of NATO, and the fight against disinformation and Euro-skepticism.
‘I am happy to note that our country is regarded as a steady and reliable partner both in the region of the Balkans and in Central and Eastern Europe on matters having to do with defense, collective security and energy. Bulgaria is making a name for itself as an indispensable factor when it comes to guaranteeing the principles of the Euro-Atlantic policy and democracy on a global scale,’ Minister Zaharieva told Congressman MaCaul. She informed the Congressman that our border with Turkey is under zero pressure because of the protective fence and the modern means of surveillance of the movement of people in the border areas.
‘The US has something to learn from Bulgaria,’ said Congressman McCaul as he told the Bulgarian Minister of the problems America has in protecting its border with Mexico.
Zaharieva and McCaul also discussed the situation in Syria, the crisis in Venezuela, as well as some current topics on the international agenda.
In her meetings with the US legislators Ekaterina Zaharieva raised the issue of the inclusion of Bulgaria in the visa waiver program, stressing that the visa refusal rate for Bulgarian nationals has dropped but more than three percent, while the percentage of Bulgarians overstaying their US visas is a mere 1.5%, a fact that Bulgaria will insist to be included in the visa waiver criteria for holders of Bulgarian passports.
In the framework of her bilateral meetings in Washington D.C., Minister Zaharieva also discussed another matter of importance for our country: the social agreement. The cooperation between Bulgaria and the US in the sphere of labor and social policy is based upon a Memorandum of Cooperation between the US Department of Labor and the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy of Bulgaria.
In 2009, a partial bilateral agreement was signed removing the requirement for Bulgarian nationals receiving an American pension to travel to the US every six months and stay in the country for a period of 30 days or face having their pension rights suspended. Now Bulgaria expects the US administration to propose concrete steps for starting negotiations that would lead to the signing of the document.
With respect to the candidacy of Bulgaria for membership of OECD, Minister Zaharieva briefed her hosts on the consolidation and the internal steps made in our country. ‘Bulgaria expects to receive a concrete date for starting negotiations for joining the OECD in the nearest future. Such an invitation will provide an extra impetus for our efforts to satisfy the OECD membership standards and will send a positive signal to our partners,’ underscored the Deputy Prime Minister.
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