Minister Mitov meets with Belarus counterpart Vladimir Makei
11 April 2016 News
“Bulgaria and the international community will benefit from the development of relations with Belarus. There is untapped potential for deepening the relations with the Council of Europe and the European Union, which is our common interest," Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov said at a meeting with his counterpart Vladimir Makei in Minsk on Monday.
Minister Mitov is on a two-day working visit to Belarus in his capacity of Chairman of the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers. Bulgaria will chair the Committee until May 18, 2016 and one of the priorities of the Chairmanship is to achieve a closer cooperation of Belarus and the Council of Europe.
Bulgaria is an active participant in the EU discussions regarding the situation in Belarus. The key message of the CoE in February was that there is readiness to promote the dialogue with Belarus. This became possible after the political prisoners were released in August 2015. The need for their complete rehabilitation and the restoration of their civil and political rights, however, remains.
During the meeting, Minister Mitov expressed satisfaction with the successful cooperation with Belarus in the field of tourism and the cooperation in the visa issuance, which contributes to the increase of the number of Belarusian tourists in Bulgaria. "Bulgaria is an attractive destination for Belarusian tourists and we expect growing numbers this year," Mitov said. The Foreign Minister of Belarus emphasized that Bulgaria has been and remains one of the most attractive destinations for tourists from Belarus.
Minister Makei thanked for the visit and said that the meeting was very constructive and useful. “We discussed a wide range of issues on the international agenda, including the most sensitive of them," he added. Both ministers expressed satisfaction with the development of the bilateral relations in recent years.
Minister Mitov underscored that Bulgaria is not satisfied with the state of bilateral trade. "On the other hand we are confident that there is potential and readiness for progressive development," Minister Mitov said.
Minister Mitov also conferred with Vladimir Andreichenko, Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus, as well as with representatives of NGOs.
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