Minister Genchovska welcomed the co-founder and chairman of the international specialized law firm Omnia - Cherie Blair
04 April 2022 News
The Minister of Foreign Affairs Teodora Genchovska welcomed the co-founder and chairman of the international specialized law firm for the prevention and resolution of disputes around the world Omnia - Cherie Blair. The meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was also attended by Deputy Minister Irena Dimitrova.
Among the main highlights of the conversation were the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, bilateral relations, and equality between women and men.
Minister Genchovska stressed that the Bulgarian side is deeply concerned about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Ukraine and its spread in neighboring countries. She said Bulgaria strongly condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Our first diplomat pointed out that our country provides constant assistance to all citizens who want to leave the conflict. “During my visit to Chisinau on March 8 this year, we evacuated 68 people on a flight from Moldova, including Bulgarians and Ukrainians, mostly mothers with young children”. She added that over 130,000 people from Ukraine have entered our country through border crossings. About half of them remained in Bulgaria and were welcomed with an open heart. More than 20,000 have been granted temporary protection status.
On the topic of gender equality, our Foreign Minister pointed out that at the end of 2020 the Bulgarian government has adopted the National Strategy for the Promotion of Equality between Women and Men for the next decade. “Bulgaria is the first in Europe in the number of ladies working in the field of communication and information technologies, and in politics the female presence in leading positions is constantly increasing”. On the topic of bilateral relations, Teodora Genchovska underlined that Bulgaria and the United Kingdom maintain an active political dialogue and cooperate in areas such as foreign policy, security, cybersecurity and hybrid threats.
For her part, Deputy Minister Irena Dimitrova stressed that Bulgaria and the United Kingdom are working to intensify cooperation in the field of strategic communications and countering hybrid threats. She added that in March 2022 the first anti-disinformation course was organized by the British Government Communications Service and the Diplomatic Institute for employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense of Bulgaria.
At the end of the meeting, Cherie Blair said that back in 1999, when she accompanied her husband Tony Blair, then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, on a visit to President Peter Stoyanov, she was very impressed by the large number of women in leadership positions in Bulgaria.