site.btaBulgarian Youth and Sports Minister Confers with Serbian, Macedonian Counterparts in New York

New York, January 31 (BTA) - Bulgarian Youth and Sports Minister Krasen Kralev conferred in New York with Serbian Youth and Sports Minister Vanja Udovicic and with Macedonia's Agency of Youth and Sports Director Darko Kaevski, Kralev's Ministry said in a press release on Wednesday.

Udovicic welcomed the fact that the development of the Western Balkans is a key priority of the Bulgarian Presidency of the EU Council. The sides discussed the development of youth policies in their countries. The Serbian Minister stressed the importance of the Bulgarian National Strategy for Youth Development 2010-2020 and expressed a desire for the exchange of good practices in this area. Kralev and Udovicic confirmed that Sofia and Belgrade will continue to pursue friendly relations in sports and considered holding a next working meeting.

The Director of the Macedonian Agency of Youth and Sports Kaevski thanked Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov for his commitment to the construction of transport infrastructure between Sofia and Skopje. Kaevski said that friendly relations between the two countries are exceptionally important to Macedonia. The sides discussed the development of school sports and the renovation of sports infrastructure in Bulgaria and Macedonia. The two talked about a bilateral agreement on youth and sports in the spirit of the Good-Neighbourliness Treaty between the two countries.

Kralev invited Udovicic and Kaevski to the EU Youth Conference, which will take place in Sofia in April within the framework of the Bulgarian EU Council Presidency.

During his stay in New York, the Bulgarian Youth and Sports Minister also conferred with Andy Rabens, Special Adviser for Global Youth Issues at the US Department of State.

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On Tuesday, Kralev became the first Bulgarian Youth Minister to take part in the annual Youth Forum, organized by the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Addressing the event, Kralev presented the good practices of involving youth people in decision-making processes on their rights. Speaking at an Interactive Roundtable on the "The role of youth in building sustainable and resilient urban and rural communities", the Minister said that, as holder of the EU Council Presidency, Bulgaria must respond to the needs of young people in Europe through the development of working measures and programmes. "Future of Europe and Young People" is one of the key priorities of the Bulgarian Presidency. Kralev stressed that the next EU Youth Strategy must be elaborated in 2018, focusing on the priorities and the needs of young people.