Bulgarian-Norwegian political consultations
09 March 2015 News
Political consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria and the Kingdom of Norway at a deputy-minister level were held on 9 March at the MFA. The Bulgarian delegation was headed by Rumen Alexandrov, while the Norwegian one was led by Ingvild Stub, State Secretary for European Affairs at the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The talks focused on a wide range of issues including the development of bilateral relations, the situation in Ukraine, the construction of a European Energy Union, including ensuring the energy security of Europe, security issues, the fight against terrorism, migration. A special attention was paid to Norway’s support as a full member of Schengen for Bulgaria’s accession to the area.
Both sides expressed content with the fruitful cooperation under the European Economic Area (EEA) Multilateral Financial Mechanism and the bilateral Norwegian cooperation program, economic growth and sustainable development in Bulgaria, and discussed the possibilities for a successful conclusion of the negotiations on the next five- year period of the financial mechanism of the EEA and Norway.
Under the two financial mechanisms for the period 2009 – 2014 Bulgaria has already received a total of EUR 126.6 million for 15 programs in priority sectors for the country, such as environmental protection, renewable energy sources, restoration of the natural and cultural heritage, Justice and Home Affairs , support for the development of the NGO sector.
The negotiations between the EU and Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein for the new funding period on the EEA Financial Mechanism and the Norwegian Financial Mechanism have started In January 2014.
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