Joint preparation of Bulgaria and Estonia for the EU Presidency in 2018
05 October 2012 News
“The EU Presidency is a challenge for new member states such as Bulgaria and Estonia and together we must do our utmost to prepare the state administration for it,” Minister Nickolay Mladenov said at a meeting today in Tallinn with his Estonian counterpart Urmas Paet. The two countries will, successively, hold the rotating presidency of the EU in 2018.
At the suggestion of Minister Mladenov, a co-ordination mechanism between the foreign ministries of Bulgaria and Estonia will be set up and there will be joint working groups with representatives of the whole state administration to co-ordinate the agenda at all meetings of the EU Councils.
The foreign ministers also discussed the ongoing negotiations on the Multiannual Financial Framework (2014-2020) and the efforts of the “Friends of Cohesion” group, which includes Bulgaria and Estonia. Mladenov and Paet discussed the Western Balkans and shared the view that the process of EU enlargement is important for the continuation of reforms in the region.
They expressed concern over the continuing violence in Syria and condemned the Syrian attack on Turkish territory, in which five civilians died. The Estonian Foreign Minister praised Bulgaria’s expertise in the Middle East and North Africa.
At bilateral level, the two ministers identified opportunities for cooperation in the field of information technology. Minister Paet expressed Estonia’s readiness to share its experience as a leading country in the field of e-government. Estonian Foreign Minister invited Bulgaria to become an official member of the NATO Cyber Defence Center, which is based in Tallinn.
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