site.btaUN Secretary-General Thanks Bulgaria for Supporting Western Balkans' European Perspective

New York, September 23 (BTA) - United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres praised Bulgaria for its active participation in the UN's work and particularly for being a stability factor in Southeastern Europe and encouraging the European integration of its neighbours, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev's press secretariat reported on Saturday, covering Friday's meeting between Radev and Guterres in New York.

The Secretary-General welcomed the recent signature of Bulgaria's Good-Neighbourliness Treaty with Macedonia, noting that it has sent a strong positive signal to the entire region. The support for the European perspective of the Western Balkans will be in the main focus of the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2018, Radev said.

The two officials expressed their shared view that the ongoing crises in the Middle East and North Africa endanger international peace and security and require joint actions from the UN and its member countries. Guterres hailed Bulgaria's joining the UN Action Plan for Libya.

He and Radev concurred that the adoption of the UN Global Compact for Migration is an important step forward in dealing with migrant movements.

Meeting with Kosovo President Hashim Thaci, also in New York, Radev said Bulgaria will continue to support the actions of the international community to reinforce Kosovo's status as a stable and democratic country in Southeastern Europe. "We need to convince the EU that the Balkans can be a safe and prosperous region," Radev noted. During the EU-Western Balkans Summit which will be held in the spring of 2018 under the Bulgarian EU Presidency, the countries in the region will be able to express their views on Europe's future, and before that, in October 2017, Sofia will host a meeting of justice and interior ministers from the EU and the Western Balkans, the President's press secretariat said.

Radev told Thaci that Bulgaria is willing to share its experience about the EU accession process and is working for good neighbourly relations between all Balkan countries.

Thaci said: "Dialogue with Serbia has no alternative to it. Kosovo will continue to make every effort to build good neighbourly relations with Serbia." He thanked Bulgaria for assisting Kosovo in the framework of international missions, particularly the EU rule-of-law mission EULEX. According to Thaci, Kosovo's future accession to the EU and NATO is a top foreign policy priority for his country.

Radev and Thaci discussed the development of regional infrastructure in Southeastern Europe and the possibility to expand economic exchange and cooperation between Bulgaria and Kosovo.

President Radev also met with members of the Bulgarian community in New York. He vowed to push for the creation of a register of Bulgarian communities abroad in order to facilitate their links with educational and business establishments in Bulgaria. "It will make it easier for us to communicate with our expatriates and use their professional expertise and experience," he said.

The President told the expatriates: "When you succeed, Bulgaria succeeds. I will call Bulgaria successful when you tell your children to go back in order to study and work there."

Taking a question about the Bulgarian judicial reform and the possibility of borrowing the Romanian anti-corruption model, Radev said Bulgaria's problems are up to the Bulgarians to solve. "The reform of the judicial system is an absolute priority to me. That is why the Presidency will convene the Consultative Council on National Security to discuss this particular subject for the first time ever," he said.

Asked about how the future single anti-corruption authority should be set up in Bulgaria, Radev said it is time to create an independent anti-corruption body which can discipline the political class.

"Bulgaria is where the people speak Bulgarian and dream Bulgarian," he said. He added that every time he meets with US government officials, he raises the question about lifting the US visa requirement for Bulgarian travellers. Radev urged the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry to push for the establishment of a cultural centre which will disseminate Bulgarian culture, traditions and folk art in New York.

President Radev greeted Bulgarians in connection with Independence Day (September 22). He wrote on Facebook: "On Independence Day we pay tribute to all those who have dedicated their actions and sometimes sacrificed their lives to defend our freedom, sovereignty and pride as a nation and a state. Independence should not be taken for granted; it is a type of conduct and an asset which depend on all of us."

Radev's session with the Bulgarian community was held in the Bulgarian Consulate General in New York. It was attended by former president Peter Stoyanov, Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva and over 200 expatriates. Earlier, Radev visited the Bulgarian Orthodox church in the city.