site.btaGeneral Affairs Council Concludes Preparations for European Council March 22-23

Brussels/Sofia, March 20 (BTA) - The European Council is expected to make a statement at the end of this week and to adopt conclusions on the Salisbury poisoning of Sergei Skripal, Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva and European Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans said in Brussels Monday. They was speaking at a news conference after a General Affairs Council which concluded preparations for the European Council meeting to be held in Brussels March 22-23.

Chaired by Zaharieva, the Council discussed the draft conclusions that the EU leaders are expected to adopt, the Bulgarian Presidency said. On their agenda will be jobs, growth and competitiveness, trade and digital taxation, as well as external relations with a focus on the preparations for the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Sofia on 17 May.

"This is a topic of particular importance for the Bulgarian Presidency since the European perspective and the connectivity of the region are a strategic priority for us," Zaharieva said.

She said that the ministers also discussed a March 26 meeting between the EU and Turkey in the Bulgarian Black Sea city of Varna. She said that busy preparation is underway and expressed hope that in the days prior to the meeting the EU state and government leaders will get an update in Brussels on the Cyprus - Turkey gas exploration standoff and the detention of two Greek soldiers in Turkey.

She also expressed hope that these events would not result in a postponement of the Varna meeting.

A month ago the European Council decided that it would decide whether or not to have a meeting with Turkey days before the meeting is due.

Zaharieva said that the EU ministers also discussed the exchange of communication between the EU and Warsaw on rule on law in Poland. Commission Vice President Timmermans said that for now the Commission does not plan to go ahead with the "nuclear option" against Poland.

He said the issue will be discussed again in April and added that a White Paper which the Polish government has sent to the Commission does not answer the questions it was asked but merely reinstates well-known Polish positions.

Timmermans said further that member states are free to pursue judicial reforms as long as they respect the division of powers rather than seek to subdue the judicial branch.

He also said that the Commission is not going to impose sanctions on Malta for violations of rule of law but is monitoring carefully the situation there.

*BTA's Brussels correspondent Nickolay Jeliazkov contributed to this story.