At the meeting of the Council of Ministers, Bulgaria supported the priorities of the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU
23 July 2021 News
Bulgaria supported the priorities of the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU, presented at the informal meeting of the General Affairs Council, held on 22-23 July 2021 at the Bardo Congress Center near the town of Kranj, Slovenia.
"We fully support the focus of the Slovenian Presidency's work on recovering from the pandemic and strengthening the EU's resilience to crises", Deputy Foreign Minister Rumen Alexandrov, who represented Bulgaria at the meeting, said. We share the strong commitment of the Slovenian Presidency to the implementation of the Mechanism for Recovery and Sustainability, and we continue to work intensively to finalize our national recovery and sustainability plan.
In connection with the new ambitious EU goals in the field of climate and energy and the package of legislative proposals presented in this field by the EC last week, Deputy Minister Alexandrov stressed that the green transition should be economically and socially sustainable for all member states, following the principles of solidarity and fair burden-sharing, taking into account the specific conditions of individual member states and the efforts made so far. The facilitative framework for achieving the EU's 2030 targets with a horizon of 2050 must provide adequate tools and incentives to mobilize the necessary investments, while containing sufficient flexibility mechanisms.
Bulgaria pointed out that the completion of the asylum reform and the establishment of a stable system for better management of migration flows remain a priority for us. Achieving a fair balance between responsibility and solidarity is key for Bulgaria as a front-line country. The Bulgarian side welcomes the Presidency's focus on ensuring a well-functioning Schengen area. In this context, it was confirmed that Schengen membership remains our strategic priority. It was stated that the topic of enlargement of the Schengen area must be returned to the EU agenda, which is fully in line with the calls of the European Commission and the European Parliament.
"We expect the summit planned for 6 October 2021 with the countries of the Western Balkans to focus on areas of practical cooperation with added value for citizens and businesses and to build on the results achieved in this format at the meetings in Zagreb and Sofia", Deputy Minister Alexandrov said during a working lunch with the participation of the countries of the Western Balkans.
Prior to the Council meeting, Deputy Minister Rumen Alexandrov met with Gaspar Dovjan, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia, and rotating President of the EU General Affairs Council, during which priority issues for our country for the period of Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU were discussed.