An EU General Affairs Council is held in Luxembourg
25 June 2024 News
Deputy Foreign Minister Ivan Kondov represented Bulgaria at the regular meeting of the EU General Affairs Council, which took place in Luxembourg today. The European ministers prepared the upcoming European Council meeting on 27—28 June, discussed the rule of law in Hungary, as well as a draft directive on transparency of representation of interests on behalf of third countries.
The topics for the upcoming regular European Council meeting on 27—28 June are Ukraine, the Middle East, Security and Defence, Competitiveness, Migration, Moldova, Georgia, Montenegro, the EU's strategic approach to the Black Sea and the new Strategic Agenda. At the initiative of Bulgaria and Romania, a text is included which tasks the High Representative and the European Commission to prepare proposals for an EU strategic approach to the Black Sea region.
The Bulgarian side stressed the role of nuclear energy in the climate transition, the need for financial support for the defence industry of the Member States and the full integration of the internal market by removing existing barriers.
In the context of the EU enlargement process, Bulgaria recalled that the path of the Republic of North Macedonia towards the EU passes through the implementation of the commitments made and the conditions set out in the negotiating framework approved by the EU.
Following the General Affairs Council, Deputy Minister Ivan Kondov took part in the first EU-Ukraine and EU-Moldova Intergovernmental Conferences, which marked the start of the accession negotiations for the two countries. In his speech, the Bulgarian deputy foreign minister underlined Bulgaria's full support for the European perspective of Ukraine and Moldova and praised the negotiations as historic. ‘We stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine in their courageous struggle for independence, dignified peace, freedom and democracy’, Deputy Foreign Minister Kondov said.