Political consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria and Estonia
24 March 2015 News
Political consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria and Estonia were held on 23 March at the MFA. The talks on a wide range of issues were led by the Bulgarian Deputy Minister Rumen Alexandrov and the Estonian Undersecretary for Europe and Transatlantic Relations Mart Laanemäe.
Among the main topics of discussion was the preparation of the forthcoming rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU in 2018 of the two countries within the Trio Presidency, respectively January-June (Estonia) and July-December (Bulgaria). Deputy Minister Alexandrov informed his Estonian counterpart on the preparations of the Presidency at national level, saying that an Action plan is in the process of development. Both sides shared the opinion that the administrative capacity and the judicious financial planning are crucial for the success of the Presidency. They discussed the possible priorities of the Trio, such as the negotiations on the next Multiannual Financial Framework, the EU post-2020 Strategy, Energy Union, EU enlargement and the challenges faced by the candidate countries.
During the consultations, they discussed topics related to the Eastern Partnership, including the preparation of the Riga Summit in May, the establishment of European Energy Union and energy security, the enlargement of the Schengen area, Bulgaria’s intentions to join the European supervisory mechanism, as well as the Bulgarian Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in the period November 2015 - November 2016.
At the regular meeting of the Council for European Affairs, Mr Laanemäe shared experience in the preparation of the Estonian administration for the upcoming Presidency. After the March 2015 parliamentary elections in Estonia, the new government is expected to adopt a communication strategy, plan for public procurement and to decide upon the team of the Presidency.
The exchange of views and the coordination of the preparations of the UK-Estonia-Bulgaria Trio Presidency will continue with a meeting of representatives of the three countries in June in Tallinn.
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