Minister Daniel Mitov pays the first official visit to the Slovak Republic at the level of Foreign Minister since 1999
05 March 2015 News
Minister Daniel Mitov pays the first official visit to the Slovak Republic at the level of Foreign Minister since 1999 at the invitation of his counterpart and Deputy Prime Minister Miroslav Lajčák. During the visit, the Bulgarian Foreign Minister held meetings with President Andrej Kiska, Prime Minister Robert Fico, and with Jana Lasakova - Vice-President of the National Council of the Slovak Republic and Chair of the Friendship Group with the Republic of Bulgaria.
The two Foreign Ministers noted the excellent level of bilateral relations in all areas and discussed opportunities for their expansion in various spheres. Minister Mitov expressed desire for close and dynamic political dialogue with the Slovak Republic, including on matters on the EU agenda. He thanked Slovakia for its unconditional support for Bulgaria's Schengen accession.
Minister Mitov expressed gratitude to Slovakia for the financial support to programmes and projects implemented by various organizations of the Bulgarian minority, living and working in Slovakia.
Regarding the migration wave to the EU and in particular to Bulgaria, the Foreign Minister said he relies on Slovakia's support for Bulgaria's insistence on a new refugee and migration policy and much more substantial EU assistance for refugees' accommodation. Daniel Mitov emphasized that Bulgaria stands firmly as a reliable EU external border.
Ministers Mitov and Lajčák discussed also the bilateral cooperation within the framework of the Slovak Chairmanship of the Visegrad Group in the V4+ format. Within this format, Bulgaria is interested in expanding and deepening the cooperation in energy and energy security, employment and social policy, and tourism.
The two chief diplomats paid special attentions to the strategic issues of energy, energy security and the establishment of EU energy union. Minister Mitov declared Bulgaria's readiness for participation in the implementation of the EU strategic initiatives: Southern Gas Corridor, access to liquefied natural gas, interconnectors along the North-South axis, and the Vertical Gas Corridor initiative for reverse-flow transmission in Central and Eastern Europe.
Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico underscored that Bulgaria and Slovakia are very close in terms of culture and development, and must be always united as natural partners sharing the same interests. They discussed Eastring, a new Slovak proposal for a diversifying natural gas infrastructure opening opportunities for supplies from Northern and Western Europe. In addition, it will be connected to a potential Turkish hub, enabling gas supply via Turkey (when and if Turkish Stream is implemented) from the Caspian basin, Iraq, Iran, and the Eastern Mediterranean. Talks on this proposal will continue at the expert level in Sofia on Friday.
We share a common interest with Slovakia in the development of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region as a positive example of a macroregional strategy, Minister Mitov said. He added that we count on Slovakia's support for Bulgaria's accession to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Bulgarian-Slovak economic cooperation has a substantial growth potential and we would like to increase the Slovak investments in our country, he said.
Minister Mitov discussed with his hosts also issues on the European and the international agenda. Both sides expressed support for Ukraine’s sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity and agreed that the peace efforts are at a critical point. They acknowledged the great importance of the joint declaration agreed by the European leaders in Minsk.
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