site.btaBulgarian Foreign Minister Mitov Takes Part in EU Foreign Affairs Council Meeting

Bulgarian Foreign Minister Mitov Takes Part in EU Foreign Affairs Council Meeting

Sofia, June 23 (BTA) - Bulgarian Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov
took part in a regular meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council
in Luxembourg on Monday, Mitov's Ministry said in a press
release on Tuesday.

At a discussion on Energy Diplomacy with European Commission
Vice President and Energy Commissioner Maros Sevcovic, Mitov
highlighted the exceptional importance of consolidated EU
positions on energy matters, including the Turkish Stream
project. He said that the EU should not yield to external
attempts at dividing Member States and that the Union should
draw the energy supplies map by itself. The chief Bulgarian
diplomat stressed the significance of the Southern Gas Corridor
and of the integration of energy markets in Southeastern
Bulgaria. He pointed to the need to speed up the construction of
reverse-flow interconnectors between Bulgaria and Greece and
between Bulgaria and Serbia which, along with the Vertical Gas
Corridor initiative, will contribute to an improvement of energy
security in Southeastern Europe and EU-wide.

At a discussion of the situation in Macedonia, the Foreign
Minister emphasized that Bulgaria supports Macedonia's EU and
NATO accession but, to this end, the country must carry out the
necessary reforms and comply with all existing membership
criteria. Mitov pointed out that maintaining good-neighbour
relations on the part of Macedonia is of key importance in this
respect.

In connection with Ministers' decision on a launch of EUNAVFOR
MED, a EU naval operation against human smugglers and
traffickers in the Mediterranean, Mitov stressed the need of
differentiating between refugees from conflict zones, to whom
the EU must grant protection, and the economic immigrant flows,
whose growth requires an adequate application of the EU return
policy.