Bulgaria President met with Ukrainian counterpart (ROUNDUP)
Picture: Прессекретариат на държавния глава
Kyiv. Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev arrived on an official two-day visit to Kyiv on Tuesday. The Bulgarian Head of State is in Ukraine at the invitation of his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko.
In the beginning of his visit to Ukraine President Plevneliev laid flowers at the Monument to the Unknown Soldier and the Memorial of the Victims of Famine in Ukraine (Holodomor).
After that the Bulgarian Head of State met with Ukrainian Preisdent Poroshenko. After the talks the two gave a briefing for the media.
“Bulgaria supports the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” President Rosen Plevneliev said.
“Annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol is a violation of the international law, the Constitution of Ukraine and the Budapest agreements of 1994.
Bulgaria does not and will never recognise this illegal act. Bulgaria does not recognise the results of the referendum held illegally in Crimea and Sevastopol either,” the Bulgarian Head of State remarked.
“To us Crimea is Ukraine, Ukraine is Europe. The outcome of the crisis in Donbas passes through the implementation of the Minsk agreements,” Mr Plevneliev commented.
He added that Bulgaria backed the EU sanctions on Russia and would work for strong and united position of the EU in support of the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
“No one has the right to change the borders with force and occupy foreign territories, let alone in Europe.
Europe’s future is seen in the elimination of the borders, not in their rearrangement. We firmly back Ukraine’s European perspective,” President Plevneliev said.
“We welcome the process of reforms in key sectors, the modernization and the democratic path of Ukraine. Bulgaria will support you on this way. We will share the lessons we have learned with you,” Rosen Plevneliev remarked.
“Modernisation and democratic European road of Ukraine has no alternative and Bulgaria will support you on this way,” Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev said.
The Bulgarian Head of State commented further that Ukraine might learn from Bulgaria’s experience and thus be more efficient and faster learning from Bulgaria’s mistakes.
“When the Bulgarian nation made its decision to be a member of the EU, realise its reforms, modernise its economy and improve its democracy, seven years later we were a completely different country.
In the very first years we knew that we were on the right track. In ten years the GDP of Bulgaria increased three times. Thanks to the bold reforms, our debt decreased from 112% to 17% of the GDP. The money allocated for healthcare is three times higher, as well as the money for the agricultural producers. The money for pensions and education increased several times, too.
Until 1997 the foreign investments were almost zero, while during the reforms from 1997 until 2008 they reached EUR 42 billion,” Mr Plevneliev remarked.
The President added that thanks to the bold reforms Bulgaria became “world champion” in terms of investments per capita of the population in 2007 and 2008.
“Ukraine is a key partner for guaranteeing Bulgaria’s energy security, as well as the energy security of Southeast Europe and the continent as a whole,” Rosen Plevneliev said.
He stressed that Ukraine and Bulgaria were Europe’s engines in the efforts to make natural gas an ordinary product and not a weapon.
“We are convinced that Russian, Azerbaijani and many other companies delivering gas to Europe will take advantage of the environment that Europe offers – environment of rights, competitiveness, clear regulation, the Third Energy Package, which is entirely to the interest of the citizens and the companies. It is not directed against anyone but it is Europe’s chance to guarantee competitive prices and free market.
Let the natural gas b traded freely at the markets instead of serving as an instrument for destabilisation of one or another country,” Mr Plevneliev remarked.
“We are grateful for Ukrainian government’s policy on the Bulgarian language studying,” Rosen Plevneliev said.
“Bulgaria is well-presented in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv, Odessa and together with President Poroshenko we agreed that no matter what reforms take place, they will be done in a European manner and will help our compatriots to integrate well and preserve their strong connection with Bulgaria,” the Bulgarian Head of State said.
“Around 250,000 Bulgarians live here. They are well-integrated, peaceful, hardworking, hospitable and proud citizens of Ukraine.
Of course, they also have a strong connection with their motherland Bulgaria,” he said further.
“It is important for Ukraine to learn from Bulgaria’s experience on its way to reforms,” Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said at the briefing.
“I was very impressed to learn that in 1997 Bulgaria found itself in a hard situation and the hard reforms allowed the country to join the EU. I am convinced that the experience of our Bulgarian friends is highly needed to our country,” Mr Poroshenko said.
He also stressed that a Bulgarian president came on a visit to Ukraine for the first time in the past 12 years.
“We have held ten meetings with President Plevneliev in the past year, which shows the intensity of the cooperation between the two countries.
We are very grateful to Bulgaria for the support to the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.
I am highly grateful that Bulgaria accepts Ukrainian soldiers from the anti-terrorist operation in Donbass for rehabilitation. In addition, 60 kids from Donbass are on a holiday at the Bulgarian seaside at the moment, which is a great gesture that we appreciate,” President Poroshenko.
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