site.btaBulgarian President Holds Meetings in New York

New York, September 21 (BTA) - Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, who is in New York for the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly, has held a series of bilateral meetings with UN officials and other international leaders, the President's press secretariat reported.

Radev's meeting with Miroslav Lajcak, President of the 72nd General Assembly session, focused on the transformation of the European policy towards migrants and the need to channel EU support towards addressing the economic and social problems in the source countries of migration movements.

Emerging from the meeting with Lajcak, Radev told Bulgarian journalists that if the EU's open-door policy towards migrants continues, it will require ever larger security and integration spending from EU member states, and yet the problem will remain unsolved where it first arose. "Regardless of how much money we spend, we will be unable to ensure complete security in Europe," he argued.

Radev confirmed earlier reports that he has invited US President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence to visit Bulgaria. According to the Bulgarian head of state, Sofia's strategic partnership with Washington was reaffirmed during President Trump's reception for the leaders of delegations to the 72nd General Assembly session.

Radev and the Netherlands' Prime Minister Mark Rutte discussed the Bulgarian judicial reform and the country's aspiration to join the Schengen border-free area. Rutte showed interest in how Bulgaria deals with the attempts at external interference in its political elections and internal affairs. In this context Radev noted that a number of successful measures were taken by the latest caretaker government (January-May 2017). He expects the Dutch Foreign Minister to visit Bulgaria shortly and familiarize himself with the country's experience in preventing external influences.

At a separate meeting, Radev and Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev considered ways to promote bilateral economic exchange and reciprocal investments. The two leaders welcomed plans for an Uzbek government delegation to visit Bulgaria shortly in order to prepare a subsequent official visit by President Mirziyoyev and a bilateral business forum aimed to promote economic exchange.

Radev said Bulgaria has an interest in sharing in the dynamic economic development of Central Asia. Mirziyoyev noted the possibility of setting up joint ventures to boost the export of raw materials and high-value-added products from Uzbekistan to the European Union. China's push to improve the connectivity between Asia and Europe through the One Belt One Road Initiative is another prerequisite for more active economic and investment cooperation between Uzbekistan and Bulgaria, the two presidents concurred. They also discussed opportunities for young people from Uzbekistan to study at Bulgarian universities, and ways to promote tourist exchange.

Talking with World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim, Radev reviewed Bulgaria's 25 years of cooperation with the World Bank and outlined the prospects of further interaction. According to Radev, Bulgaria expects the World Bank to provide expert advice rather than financial aid, in order to make the country's economic and social development far more intensive.

During his working visit to the United States, the Bulgarian President also participated in the Bloomberg Global Business Forum. He and Michael Bloomberg exchanged opinions about political and financial matters.

Later on, Radev took part in an international conference on preventing the use of the Internet for terrorist purposes, organized by French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Theresa May.

Taking a journalist's question about the international support for the Global Pact for the Environment established on the French President's initiative, Radev said the initiative has been welcomed by all countries. "It is bound to develop, we simply cannot step back anymore," he noted. "You see that even the United States admitted, after several series of hurricanes, that they cannot withdraw just like that and disengage themselves from climate action."