site.btaForeign Minister Zaharieva Participates in EU Foreign Affairs Council Meeting in Brussels

Brussels, February 26 (BTA) - Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva participated in the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels on Monday.

Moldova and the EU's engagement with the country on the basis of the Association Agreement was one of the agenda highlights. Zaharieva said the Republic of Moldova is clear about the necessary reforms it should make and is already taking action in this direction. The EU should send positive signals to encourage the government to press on with its efforts to promote the rule of law, fight corruption and maintain high standards of human rights protection, she said.

Earlier on Monday, speaking at a working breakfast of the EU foreign ministers and Moldova's chief diplomat Tudor Ulianovschi, Zaharieva stressed that Moldova should be encouraged to keep up the reform momentum and that regardless of the outcome of the upcoming parliamentary elections, the reforms should continue and their irreversibility should be guaranteed, the Foreign Ministry said in a press release.

The foreign ministers also discussed the prospects of the Middle East peace process. The EU reaffirmed its position in favour of a two-state solution to the conflict, and expressed the shared view that the US should play an important role in the process. Zaharieva offered the opinion that the EU's Middle East partners should increase their financial contribution to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).