Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Mariya Gabriel: Against the backdrop of global challenges, regional partnership is increasingly important
09 October 2023 News
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mariya Gabriel took part in the Trilateral Meeting of the Prime Ministers of Bulgaria – Acad Nikolay Denkov, of Greece - Kyriakos Mitsotakis and of Romania - Ion-Marcel Ciolacu, which took place on 9 October 2023 at the Euxinograd Residence.
Bulgaria, Greece and Romania will work together to strengthen regional connectivity in all its forms. They will continue to develop their cooperation to ensure regional and Euro-Atlantic security in South-Eastern Europe. This is the main message of the meeting.
The event was attended by European Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas and European Commissioner for Transport Adina Valian.
In parallel to the leadership meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Maria Gabriel chaired a working session on "Foreign Affairs, Security Policy and Future Prospects of the Tripartite Format". The session was attended by European Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas, Romania's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Cataline Predoyu, Greece's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexandra Papadopoulou, Romania's Ambassador to Bulgaria Brundusha Predescu, and Greece's Ambassador Marios Liberopoulos.
Among the topics discussed at the session were Bulgaria's active role in the EU and NATO, the Western Balkans and the EU's enlargement policy, security in the Black Sea region, support for Ukraine, connectivity and strategic infrastructure, the priorities of the Bulgarian government such as the accession to Schengen, the euro area and the OECD.
An important outcome of the trilateral meeting between Bulgaria, Greece and Romania was the adoption of a joint declaration on key issues for the development of the region.
"We reaffirmed our commitment to strengthen and reinforce coordination and cooperation between the three countries," Deputy Prime Minister Gabriel said.
The declaration highlights the growing importance of the multi-dimensional connectivity of the three countries and the inter-regional connectivity of the EU, stressing the important role of the Three Seas Initiative and the construction of the North-South corridor.
"We stressed that the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the OECD and Schengen will contribute to improving economic stability, investment, business and security in the region", the deputy prime minister said. She thanked the European Commission and Greece for their strong support for Bulgaria and Romania's Schengen membership.
The trilateral declaration also points out that the countries are joining efforts to strengthen countering disinformation and hybrid attacks and to strengthen strategic communication.
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