site.btaMaltese President Coleiro Preca Confers with President Radev, Prime Minister Borissov

Maltese President Coleiro Preca Confers with President Radev, Prime Minister Borissov

Sofia, February 5 (BTA) - On Monday, the first day of her two-day state visit to Bulgaria, Maltese President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca conferred with Bulgarian President Rumen Radev and with Prime Minister Boyko Borissov.

Emerging from their session, Radev said that the two heads of State had expressed similar positions on the migrant crisis, the importance of EU external border protection which, as he put it, requires tangible solidarity with, and attention to, first-line Member States like Malta and Bulgaria.

Asked about the direction that the reform of the Common European Asylum Policy should take in order to address adequately the issue of migrants in Europe, Radev pointed to the need of a clear assessment of the risk and the threats, of the migrant pressure trends and of the problems in the countries of origin. "It is very important to have a uniform European asylum policy," the President said, adding that this is one of the topics during the Bulgarian Presidency of the EU Council.

"The migrant crisis can be solved durably only by ensuring greater security and stabilizing the regions from which the migrants and refugees arrive, as well as by facilitating those regions' economic and social development, with a special emphasis on education and healthcare," the Bulgarian head of State stressed. "Since we offer millions of people from those troubled regions social security here in Europe, they stop thinking about their own countries' future but how they can come to Europe," Radev said.

"The Valletta Process helped us gather together with the leaders of Africa so as to be able to consider this issue. We cannot shoulder everything and say that we understand everything. That is why we must understand the problems of people there. Europe should be proactive, we should invest in a sustainable way in addressing the problems of Africa," Coleiro Preca commented for her part. She emphasized solidarity and added that the first-line States cannot solve the problem on their own.

The significance of the new multiannual financial framework was also discussed at the talks, Radev said, adding that the first discussions on the framework will start at a conference in Bulgaria on March 9. "We share similar positions on Cohesion Policy as fundamental to the EU. Convergence is an important factor of our unity and success, we speak in a single voice here. We speak about a faster levelling of the standard of living and economic development between the countries of the North and South, of the East and West," the Bulgarian President pointed out.

Noting the enormous potential existing for a promotion of bilateral cultural contacts, he recalled that Valletta is European Capital of Culture in 2018, and Plovdiv will follow in 2019. Radev thanked Coleiro Preca for being the first Maltese President to join the local Bulgarian community for the celebration of the Day of Sts Cyril and Methodius and for making her residence available for this purpose for several years now. "We regard this as a great honour and are most grateful for this gesture," the Bulgarian head of State said. He added that the Bulgarians in Malta are a "living bridge" between the two peoples and acknowledged the support they get to integrate into Maltese society in the best possible way. For her part, the Maltese President noted that some 7,000 Bulgarians already live in her country and they are well integrated into society and help its prosperity.

Coleiro Preca congratulated Bulgaria on what she called a "wonderful start" of the Bulgarian Presidency of the EU Council. In her words, the presence of such a strong business delegation from Malta is a sign of the commitment and the existing political will to pursue cooperation.

Financial services, education, healthcare, tourism and migration (a very important issue for both countries, as she put it) also figured on the agenda of Monday's talks. "My official visit demonstrates a wonderful state of our political relations and creates fine prerequisites for stronger ties between our peoples," she added.

Radev described the visit of the Maltese head of State as "a sign of both countries' enormous desire to invigorate their relations at the high and summit political level". The President is convinced that the visit will give a fresh impetus to bilateral relations in all areas of mutual interest. He noted that the delegation, led by his guest, includes government ministers and more than 50 business executives - "the first such delegation to come to Bulgaria."

During their talks, Maltese President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca and Prime Minister Borissov discussed the Bulgarian Presidency priorities with an emphasis on the European perspective for the Western Balkans, the migration crisis, Cohesion Policy and other important European subjects, the Government Information Service said in a press release.

The two expressed similar positions on the strategic issues in the EU and were highly appreciative of the fine bilateral partnership in a number of sectors.