site.btaBulgaria, Poland Unanimous on Topic of Security

Warsaw, October 5 (BTA special correspondent Asen Boyadjiev) - Speaking at a joint news conference with his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda here on Thursday, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev said that in respect of security, the two countries have "total unanimity that Europe is faced with a number of important challenges from within, as well as from without". Radev continues his visit to Poland which opened on October 4.

Radev said further that as far as the threats facing Europe are concerned: terrorism, addressing the migration crisis, the two heads of State have a clear position that this is a problem which requires a single European solution which should also observe the sovereignty of the individual countries and guarantee their security. Radev thanked Poland for its unconditional support for Bulgaria's membership in the Schengen Area. "Given that Bulgaria fulfilled all technical requirements back in 2011, we think that Bulgaria not being part of the Schengen Area is unfair," he said. Radev also thanked Poland for its support through Frontex in the protection of the EU external borders. He noted that it should be clear to all member states that the EU's external borders are not those of Bulgaria, Greece or Italy, but rather that these are Europe's common borders so that true solidarity is needed with real actions in support of these countries.

The Bulgarian President also thanked for the overall awareness of and support for the management of the migration flows and fighting the smuggling of humans.

A Bulgarian-Polish business forum was opened within Radev's visit to Warsaw. Attending the event are representatives of more than 170 Polish and 55 Bulgarian companies, the Bulgarian Economy Ministry said in a press release. The forum was opened by Bulgarian Deputy Economy Minister Alexander Manolev who said that last year Bulgaria's exports to Poland exceeded 585 million euros, while the two-way commercial exchange exceeded 1.6 billion euros. During the business forum, agreements were signed between Bulgarian and Polish companies in a number of sectors of mutual interest, such as purchasing of Bulgarian honey, sale and repair works of train cars, import of meat and milk, among others.