site.btaBulgarian PM Borissov Meets with US Ambassador Mustafa

January 6 (BTA) - Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov Monday met with US Ambassador to Bulgaria Herro Mustafa, the Government Information Service said.
Their talks focused on the forthcoming first session of the Bulgaria-US strategic dialogue, which will be held in Bulgaria on January 8 with the participation of US Under Secretary for Political Affairs David Hale and a delegation led by him.

Borissov and Mustafa discussed the bilateral strategic partnership, on which a framework with specific areas of cooperation was adopted during the Bulgarian Prime Minister's visit to the White House in November 2019.

"The Bulgaria-US strategic dialogue is extremely important for the development of the bilateral relations. The goal is to upgrade the bilateral partnership so as to achieve specific results in key areas of mutual interest, such as security and defence, counter-terrorism, energy security, justice, education, and ties between peoples," Borissov said.

Borissov and the US Ambassador noted the excellent relations between their two countries in the area of security and defence both on the bilateral plane and within NATO. Matters in the area of the rule of law also featured on the agenda of the meeting.

The Bulgarian Prime Minister stressed that his country is interested in a further deepening of the trade and economic relations with the US while preserving the positive trend for sustainable growth of bilateral trade. He also stressed the importance of bilateral cooperation in the energy sector that has the potential to contribute to Bulgaria's energy security and diversification of energy sources and routes, including through the import of liquefied natural gas.

Borissov and the US Ambassador also discussed current topics on the international agenda.

NV/DS