site.btaBulgarian President Calls for Starting European Energy Union's Construction from the Balkans

Bulgarian President Calls for Starting European Energy Union's Construction from the Balkans

Munich, February 13 (BTA) - Speaking with European Commission (EC) Vice-President for the Energy Union Maros Sefcovic here Saturday, Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev called for the starting of the European Energy Union's construction from the Balkans. He and Sefcovic agreed that this union's establishment is of exceptional significance for deepening the process of European integration and increasing the energy security of all EU Member States, Plevneliev's press secretariat reported.

The EC Vice-President praised what Bulgaria has achieved in the last year with the establishment of a national energy exchange and the efforts undertaken for the full liberalization of the electricity market.

Plevneliev noted as a key priority of Southeast European countries the diversification of energy sources and supply routes. In his words, the region's energy dependency is its greatest vulnerability. He called on the European Commission to support logistically and financially the development and modernization of the region's energy infrastructure.

According to Plevneliev, the construction of a regional energy exchange will lead to the establishment of a common energy market with competitive prices for all countries in Southeastern Europe.

The construction of the Southern Gas Corridor will ensure an actual diversification and will increase the security of natural gas supplies for the countries in Southeastern Europe, the Bulgarian head of State noted. It is in the common interest to obtain access to the liquefied natural gas terminals in the Mediterranean, as well as to create interconnectors between the gas transmission networks of Bulgaria and its neighbours, he went on to say. Plevneliev and Sefcovic also discussed the progress achieved and the forthcoming actions for the construction of the Greece-Bulgaria gas interconnector.

They agreed that the decision on the implementation of the Nord Stream 2 project should be taken after a thorough analysis of its conformity with the EU's Third Energy Liberalization Package, as well as of its contribution to the actual diversification of natural gas supplies to Europe.

On Saturday, President Plevneliev also held meetings with the leaders of the countries from the Baltic, Black Sea and Adriatic regions, during which he called for joint actions of East European countries for connecting the energy and transport infrastructure. The initiative for joint cooperation was launched at the 70th Regular Session of the UN General Assembly in New York in September 2015.

"We need a regional approach that would be followed by all countries when the problems exceed their own capabilities. Only together can the countries from Eastern Europe change the face of their region so that everyone can profit from this," Plevneliev underscored. He recalled that Bulgaria has called on multiple occasions for investments in the broadening and modernization of the Balkans' transport and energy connections not only with Western Europe but also with the states in Central Europe and the Baltic Sea Region."