site.btaPresident Radev: Brexit Must Not Impact Negatively Bulgarians in UK

Sofia, June 28 (BTA) - President Rumen Radev Thursday conferred with Syed Kamall, Chairman of the European Conservatives and Reformists in the European Parliament, Radev's press secretariat said.

The group of the European Conservatives and Reformists held a meeting in Sofia.

At his talks with the guest, Radev said that Britain's leaving the EU should not impact negatively the rights of the Bulgarians living in the United Kingdom. In Radev's words, both the EU and Britain stand to gain from reaching agreement in respect of the access to work and education of the 3.8 million European citizens living in Britain and of the 900,000 British citizens in the EU.

The two officials concurred that the decision of the British citizens to leave the EU must be respected but that it is in the interest of the EU member state and Britain to keep the trust, the constructive dialogue and cooperation in sensitive areas such as security and defence. Radev noted the good cooperation between Bulgaria and Britain in security and counteracting terrorism, and voiced conviction that it will continue to develop.

The Sofia meeting of the group of the European Conservatives and Reformists was attended by Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva. Addressing the participants, Zaharieva said, quoted by her Ministry, that the recent EU General Affairs Council which decided to support the start of accession talks with Macedonia and Albania next year on certain conditions, was the first such meeting since 2015 to reach "unanimity on the topic of enlargement". "The topic is sensitive for many member states but reason prevailed and we managed to give a clear perspective and a clear time frame to Macedonia and Albania. This is an achievement for the entire EU, not only of the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council," Zaharieva said.

The Foreign Minister said that the most important thing that was done was to "unblock" the European perspective for the countries in the Western Balkans. In her words, the focus on the Western Balkans in the past six months encouraged their leaders to address problems that had stood open for decades, and to speed up the pace of reforms and of meeting the requirements for opening accession talks or talks on certain negotiation chapters.