site.btaSpanish Government Reconfirms Support for Bulgaria's Accession to Schengen Area

Madrid, November 7 (BTA) - Meeting with the visiting Bulgarian Foreign Minister, Ekaterina Zaharieva, here late on Monday, Spanish Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis reconfirmed his country's support for Bulgaria's entry in the visa-free Schengen area. "The Spanish government will support in any way it can Bulgaria's accession to Schengen, now that your country has fulfilled all requirements," he told the guest as quoted by Zaharieva's Ministry.

Zaharieva was on a two-day working visit to the Spanish capital on Sunday and Monday.

Zaharieva pointed out that Bulgaria has always received full support from Spain, that the Ministries of the Interior and Justice work very well together, that Bulgaria has seen considerable Spanish investment and that the tourist exchange is increasing. She also said that close to 300,000 Bulgarians live and work in Spain, and are well-integrated into the Spanish society.

Zaharieva recalled that Bulgaria was among the first countries to express support for the territorial integrity and constitutional order in Spain after the commencement of the Catalonia crisis. "For us, rule of law is a topmost value in the EU. We believe in Spanish justice," said the top Bulgarian diplomat.

Zaharieva and Dastis also discussed one of the top foreign policy priorities of the upcoming Bulgarian Presidency of the EU Council: the European prospects of the Western Balkans. Also on the agenda of talks were other issues from the EU agenda and the Bulgarian Presidency including the security and defence policy, the reform in the asylum policy, job creation, growth and innovations, support for the cohesion policy, the Brexit.

The two Foreign Ministers found that they concur on most priorities.

Zaharieva also met with Maria Soraya Rodriguez Ramos who chairs the Spanish parliamentary committee on EU issues, to discuss with her migration, Brexit and the debate on the future of the EU.

Later in the day Zaharieva, who is also a Deputy Prime Minister in charge of judicial reform in the Bulgarian government, conferred with Justice Minister Rafael Catala. The two discussed the progress of judicial reform in Bulgaria and the process of building the European Public Prosecutor's Office. They expressed support for the idea of French President Emmanuel Macron to allow the European Public Prosecutor's Office to prosecute major cases of international terrorism - not only cross-border financial crimes.