Minister Nikolay Milkov participates in the first international conference on Black Sea security in Bucharest
13 April 2023 News
The Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikolay Milkov participated in the first international conference on the security of the Black Sea, which took place on 13 April in Bucharest. The event was held under the auspices of the Crimean International Platform and was jointly organised by the Foreign and Defence Ministers of Romania and Ukraine.
Among the topics of discussion were ensuring freedom and safety of navigation, developing situational awareness, enhancing the resilience and defence capabilities of the countries in the region, and resolving protracted conflicts.
Minister Nikolay Milkov was one of the main panellists in the second part of the conference, dedicated to the need for an immediate response to the threats and challenges in the Black Sea region. The Bulgarian Minister stressed that security in the Black Sea is impossible without security for Ukraine and Moldova. During his speech, he focused on specific projects that concern Bulgaria and whose implementation is in the interest not only of the citizens of our country, but also of those from the region of Ukraine and the EU and NATO countries.
‘One of these projects is the idea of accelerating the construction of a third bridge on the Danube at Ruse and Bucharest is the place where this should be stated loudly,’ Minister Milkov said, adding that we rely on the cooperation of the Romanian side, also fixed in the recently signed political declaration on strategic partnership between Bulgaria and Romania.
Another important priority was the ‘Sea to Sea’ initiative, which aims to connect the White Sea ports with the Greek road network via Bulgaria to the Romanian coast. This project is also militarily important, as it will allow the smooth acceleration of supplies in future crises.
‘We are working hard with our partners in Greece and Romania to upgrade the existing infrastructure,’ Minister Milkov stated. In his words, the implementation of the Alexandroupolis-Burgas project is extremely important because it will allow the supply of crude oil from all over the world to the refinery in Burgas, which is important not only for the Bulgarian economy but also for the whole region, as Bulgaria supplies gasoline and diesel to all countries.
Minister Nikolay Milkov also drew attention to the issue of military mobility, which is directly related to Bulgaria's membership in Schengen. It was pointed out that the ability to quickly transfer military units between the countries in the region would face serious difficulties if Bulgaria was outside Schengen.
The conference was also attended by NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană, Minister Bogdan Aurescu, Minister of Defence of Romania Angel Tîlvăr, Minister of Defence of Ukraine Oleksii Reznikov. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Moldova, Nicu Popescu, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Emine Japarova, as well as representatives of all EU and NATO countries were also among the guests at the major event.
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