site.btaForeign Ministers of Bulgaria, Palestine Confer in Sofia

110 POLITICS-BULGARIA-PALESTINA-FOREIGN MINISTERS

Foreign Ministers of Bulgaria, Palestine
Confer in
Sofia


September 2 (BTA) - The Middle East peace process was the key topic of talks held on Monday here between Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva and her Palestinian counterpart Riyad al-Maliki who is paying an official visit to Bulgaria between September 1-3 at Zaharieva's invitation.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Zaharieva said that in the talks she expressed the position of Bulgaria and of the EU that the current standstill in, "a de facto absence of", the Middle East peace process is a cause of serious concern. "Our view is that at the basis of finding a solution lay direct talks between Israel and Palestine and we very much hope that the Oslo and Paris international agreements will continue to be implemented," Zaharieva said.

The Bulgarian Foreign Minister voiced a hope that Palestine and Israel will find ways and means to reach agreement on all issues.

Zaharieva said that Bulgaria and Palestine have long-term cooperation in education and science, noting that more than 5,000 Palestinians have studied in Bulgaria. She said that at the moment only 22 nationals of Palestine are studying here, so that more efforts are needed to promote the Bulgarian higher education. Zaharieva recalled that last week the Council of Ministers approved an agreement with the government of Palestine on cooperation in education, science, culture, youth and sports.

The Palestinian Foreign Minister said that the participants in the talks discussed the obstacles for restoring the Middle East peace process, in particular the Israeli-Palestinian process. Riyad al-Maliki said that Palestine continues to believe that the solution should be attained through direct political negotiations and that the principle of settlement between two states is the sole possible solution to ensure viability and fairness of the solutions in the region. He said that Bulgaria, who has excellent relations with the Israeli, as well as the Palestinian side, may act as a bridge between the two.

Riyad al-Maliki said that the Bulgarian-Palestinian relations are excellent, voicing a hope that they will have a favourable impact at different levels, including in the trade between the two countries. IG/ZH//