Minister Vigenin met with the German Minister of State for Europe Michael Roth
27 May 2014 News
Minister Kristian Vigenin met with Michael Roth, State Minister for Europe at the German Federal Foreign Office, who is on a working visit to Sofia. The focus of the conversation was on the future of the EU and the European agenda in the context of the European Parliament elections, held last week in all Member States.
Kristian Vigenin and Michael Roth exchanged views on the priority areas for the next five-year term of the European institutions, among which job creation, tackling youth unemploymentand economic growth and competitiveness.
The Bulgarian Foreign Minister emphasized the importance of adopting a common approach on migration and refugee problems, which have a direct impact on EU’s security. "We have taken measures to deal with the emergency situation which occurred as a result of the increased migration pressure and we proved that we can be a reliable external border of the EU. We hope that in the second half of this year a decision on the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to Schengen will be made and we rely on Germany’s support," he said.
The two ministers pointed out the importance of the promotion of the European principles such as the rule of law, respect for human rights and media freedom.
Among the topics of conversation was the energy policy of the Union and Minister Vigenin emphasized that the EU can not be energy secure, as long as there is even one member state that is fully dependent on one source or the transit routes are uncertain. He outlined the measures taken by the Bulgarian government in that direction – building interconnection with neighboring countries, providing support for the construction of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline and for the idea of "North-South" gas corridor, as well as the implementation of the "South Stream" project.
More photos
