site.btaBoyko Borissov Meets with Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila

109 POLITICS - FINLAND - BULGARIA - MEETING

Boyko Borissov Meets
with Finnish Prime
Minister Juha Sipila


Helsinki/Sofia, November 8 (BTA) - Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov met with his Finnish counterpart Juha Sipila in Sipila's official residence Kesaranta in Helsinki. The main topics on the agenda were the EU perspective for the Western Balkans, security and border control, education, energy and tourism, the press office of the Bulgarian government reported.

Sipila congratulated Borissov for the success of the first Bulgarian EU Council Presidency.

Borissov and Sipila discussed student and teacher exchange between the two countries. "Finland has the best universities and perhaps the best education system," Borissov said, noting that Sipila committed himself to student and teacher exchange. He added that the Professional High School of Computer Programming and Innovation in Bourgas, on Black Sea, was chosen for the Bulgarian-Finnish cooperation.

The two officials discussed expanding the bilateral cooperation in the energy sector. "We will have more thorough discussions on the Finnish model using Russian reactors in the nuclear energy sector," Borissov said, adding that he and Sipila have come up with a plan how the two countries can help each other with expertise in this area.

The Bulgarian PM noted that Bulgaria and Finland are a model for protecting EU's external borders, as they have political will, strong border police and effective agreements with third countries.

Borissov also said that the number of Finnish tourists in Bulgaria has doubled. The Bulgarian PM invited Sipila to visit Bulgaria soon and promised to take him to the southern city of Plovdiv, European Capital of Culture in 2019. LY/TH


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