site.btaPoland Supports Bulgarian EU Presidency's Plans Concerning Western Balkans

Sofia, January 15 (BTA) - Poland supports the priorities of the current Bulgarian Presidency of the EU Council, particularly its plans to develop the EU's relations with the Western Balkans, Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz said in Sofia on Monday. He gave a joint news briefing with Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva during his one-day working visit here.

Czaputowicz said Bulgaria's success in presiding over the EU Council in the first half of 2018 will also be a success for Poland. He noted that this year is the 100th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations, which is an excellent opportunity to build even greater closeness between the two countries.

The guest invited Zaharieva to visit Poland. The trip will probably take place in the second half of 2018.

Zaharieva said Poland is an important country for the EU and a longstanding friend of Bulgaria. "Last week, a Pole brought millions of Bulgarians to tears by delivering his speech in Bulgarian during the official launch of the Bulgarian EU Presidency," she said, referring to European Council President Donald Tusk.

The two foreign ministers discussed matters on the EU agenda, the bloc's common defence and security policy, the cohesion policy and the common agricultural policy. They concurred that cohesion is one of the best and most important EU policies and it should continue into the next programming period beyond 2019.

"We share very similar views with Poland and I want to thank them for supporting our initiatives for the Western Balkans and their European perspective," the host said.

Zaharieva and Czaputowicz also looked at the EU asylum policy and the protection of the bloc's external borders. Zaharieva expressed hope that during the Bulgarian EU Presidency the member states will move closer in their views on these matters and will finish their work on relevant measures and dossiers. She thanked Warsaw for its support for Bulgaria's and Romania's accession to the Schengen border-free area.

The two diplomats further discussed the Article 7 procedure against Poland which the European Commission opened on December 20 over controversial changes in the Polish judicial system. Zaharieva said: "We are following the dialogue between Poland and the European Commission and I hope that together we can find a positive way out of this situation. Poland can count on our good intentions and impartiality."