Mariya Gabriel at a farewell meeting with ambassadors: Thank you for your support in achieving concrete results for Bulgaria
08 April 2024 News
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Mariya Gabriel invited the Ambassadors in Bulgaria to a farewell meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She outlined in detail the concrete results achieved over the last ten months in the field of foreign policy and thanked the Heads of Diplomatic Missions for the fruitful joint work, constructive dialogue and support.
‘Unity, mutual respect, pragmatic cooperation and anticipatory action have been guiding principles in my work’, said Deputy Prime Minister Gabriel. She stressed that she had worked actively to establish Bulgaria as a recognisable, proactive and reliable partner in the EU and NATO. A concrete example of this is keeping the issue of support for Ukraine high on the agenda of the two organisations, demonstrated by Mariya Gabriel's meetings with President Volodymyr Zelensky and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
‘I have worked to position Bulgaria as a regional leader, underlining the strategic importance of the Western Balkans and the Black Sea region’, Mariya Gabriel continued. She stressed the importance of improving connectivity in the region — infrastructure, energy, economic, digital, as well as cooperation in the field of innovation. ‘Good connectivity creates more opportunities’, Gabriel said.
The deputy prime minister also highlighted the results in terms of Bulgaria's accession to Schengen with the abolition of air and sea border controls, as well as the progress in Bulgaria's preparations to join the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Mariya Gabriel also focused on strategic partnerships with countries in and outside Europe. She recalled that she had deepened partnerships with the United States of America and the United Kingdom. Examples are the Second Session of the Bulgaria-US Strategic Dialogue and the important Memorandum of Understanding signed between Bulgaria and the United States on countering foreign manipulation of information. A Joint Declaration on Strategic Partnership has been adopted with the UK, covering key areas such as foreign, security and defence policy, justice and home affairs, science, innovation, education. ‘We have given a new impetus to the 2008 strategic partnership agreement between Bulgaria and France, and the Roadmap will be updated’, Gabriel added.
Minister Gabriel also paid attention to laying the foundations for building new partnerships and reviving traditional ones, which will play a positive role in political, economic and trade relations.
Deputy Prime Minister Mariya Gabriel thanked for the regular and constructive dialogue with different groups of ambassadors in Bulgaria: the group of ambassadors from the EU, the group of ambassadors from non-EU countries, the ambassadors from the Arab and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation countries, the group of ambassadors from Asia, the group of women ambassadors, as well as the group of ambassadors speaking Bulgarian.
Gabriel also referred to the work done to establish Bulgaria as a regional innovation hub, as well as to the creation of a strategic image of the country, which will present the history, traditions, culture and successes of the country through the concept of ‘Brand Bulgaria’.
The Deputy Prime Minister also stressed the importance of the first of its kind Foreign Policy Strategy of Bulgaria, the draft of which was presented earlier in the day at a press conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, thanking especially all those involved in its development.
Last but not least, Mariya Gabriel thanked all the diplomatic service employees for their high professionalism and dedication to the cause of defending the Bulgarian national interest with dignity.
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