site.btaPresident Radev, Foreign Minister Zaharieva Support Call for Reforming UN

New York, September 19 (BTA) - The UN member states must achieve consensus about conducting reforms that would increase the organization's work efficiency and speed up the decision-making process during crises, President Rumen Radev commented for Bulgarian journalists here the expected results of the 72nd Session of the UN General Assembly, as quoted by his Press Secretariat on Tuesday.

Deputy Prime Minister for justice reform and Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva also supports US President Donald Trump's and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' call for less bureaucracy in the UN, more efficiency and closeness to the people, it transpired from a statement Zaharieva made here Monday.

President Radev heads the Bulgarian delegation, which is in New York to take part in the 72nd Session of the UN General Assembly. Minister Zaharieva took part in a UN General Assembly meeting about reforming the organization, organized and chaired by President Trump, her Ministry reported.

Crises arise and develop very quickly, while reaching a consensus often times takes too long, said Radev.

Zaharieva said that for years there has been talk of reforming the UN, but things have finally gotten close at least when it comes to the administrative part. Over 120 countries have signed the declaration in support of the reforms, Bulgaria's top diplomat noted, adding that the UN's budget has doubled since 2000.

The forum was held at the US' initiative, during which a political declaration, drafted by a group of countries invited by the US, was supported. The countries have been selected in order to represent all interested groups regarding the UN reforms.

During the meeting, Zaharieva also conferred with the prime ministers of Albania and Macedonia, Edi Rama and Zoran Zaev, respectively, as well as with her counterparts from Macedonia, Romania, Croatia and the Netherlands.

"We are faced with the challenge to stand up to extremism not only as societies, but as individuals, and we can achieve success only by defending our values and honouring the people who have overcome their fear and stood up against violence," said President Radev during an international forum here, held under UNESCO's auspices, during which the Global Hope Coalition was presented, the President's Press Secretariat reported. The Global Hope Coalition aims to annually pay tribute to regular people who have become heroes by risking their life in the fight against extremism, or have acted to protect cultural heritage and build intercultural bridges. During a solemn ceremony held as part of the Tribute to the Heroes of the Global Campaign Against Extremism and Intolerance, President Radev honoured Colonel Matthew Bogdanos for his contributions to exposing the link between trafficking in cultural valuables and financing terrorism, and Lt. Kochar Saleh for her contribution to the fight against the Islamic State.

Earlier on Tuesday, Radev conferred with leading Jewish organizations from the US and urged for increasing US and Israeli investments in Bulgaria in the IT field and other high value-added sectors. According to the Bulgarian head of State, this country can use US and Israeli experience in the introduction of programmes for training computer specialists and their participation in the economy, which will create perspectives for more young people choosing to develop professionally in Bulgaria. The President also said that lifting US visas sooner for Bulgarians travelling or working in the States will give a fresh impetus to bilateral economic cooperation. Bulgaria's historic contribution to saving its Jewish community in WWII was also outlined during the meeting.