Ekaterina Zaharieva received Turkey’s EU Affairs Minister
01 December 2017 News
“When two neighbouring States are candid and open with one another, we can always find solutions to any issue. Turkey can rely on our sincere support.” Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva said this at a meeting with Ömer Çelik, Minister of European Union Affairs of the Republic of Turkey and Chief Negotiator for Turkish Accession to the European Union.
Çelik is paying a working visit to Bulgaria.
“To us, the Bulgarian Presidency of the EU Council is exceedingly important,” the guest said.
“Bulgaria applies a uniform standard to all candidate countries: it encourages and facilitates the reforms that each country has to implement on its own,” Zaharieva said.
Zaharieva and Çelik discussed the opening of the completely renovated Bulgarian Church of St Stephen in Istanbul. The Iron Church will be inaugurated on 7 January 2018, the Feast Day of St John the Baptist.
“This is one of those numerous good examples of ethnic tolerance which we politicians should better cite,” Minister Zaharieva said, adding that Sofia is the only capital of a EU Member State in which an Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, Judaic and Muslim place of worship stand in close proximity to one another.
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