site.btaBulgaria, Romania To Develop Energy and Transport Infrastructure

Bulgaria, Romania To Develop Energy and Transport Infrastructure

Bucharest/Sofia, June 28 (BTA) - Bulgaria and Romania share a common goal to upgrade and develop the energy and transport infrastructure which connects the two countries, and work for the construction of new bridges and ferry links across the Danube in order to boost exchange between people and businesses. Presidents of Bulgaria Rumen Radev and of Romania Claus Johannis rallied around the idea at a meeting in Bucharest on Wednesday.

The Bulgarian head of state is paying a two-day official visit to Romania.

Increasing two-way trade to 3.9 billion euro in 2016 and exchange in tourism is a clear sign for the upswing in bilateral relations, the sides agreed. On Thursday the two heads of state will unveil a Romanian-Bulgarian business forum which will discuss prospects for investment cooperation.

Radev and Johannis reaffirmed the will of their two countries to further their cooperation within the EU. Bulgaria and Romania share common positions on a number of issues on the EU agenda and will cooperate in the successful implementation of their respective presidencies of the Council of the European Union in 2018 and 2019.

The two sides concurred that Bulgaria and Romania have fulfilled all Schengen criteria as early as in 2011, which should be acknowledged by all EU members.

The meeting took stock of the good bilateral cooperation in the field of security. President Radev said: "The joint efforts made by Bulgaria and Romania to counter illegal migration and control EU's external borders, the fight against global terrorism and the participation in military exercises are a clear example of our shared contribution to the security and stability in the Balkans."

The Bulgarian head of state stated that in order to improve Bulgaria's energy security the Bulgaria-Romania interconnector should allow the transit of gas in both directions.

After the meeting, Radev was asked by reporters what aspect of the Romanian counter-corruption model would be applicable in Bulgaria, the Head of State said this model has proven to work both with the number of sentences for corruption and the amount of restored state funds. "What is most important is that Romania has managed to create a single body to fight high-level corruption," the Bulgarian President said. He added that every state has its specifics and Bulgaria cannot directly copy one model or another. "However, we have to borrow these leading principles to ensure that the corruption level in Bulgaria drops considerably," he commented.

Within the framework of his visit, Radev is scheduled to confer with Senate President Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, as well as with the Chamber of Deputies President Liviu Dragnea.

While in Bucharest, the Head of State laid flowers at the monuments of Vassil Levski and Hristo Botev.

Radev told representatives of the Bulgarian community in Romania that strengthening the bond between expatriate Bulgarians and their home country is a priority of the presidential institution. At the Bulgarian embassy in Bucharest Radev spoke with the leaderships of the Union of Bulgarians in Banat, the Federation of the Bulgarian Communities in Romania and Bulgarians living in this country's northern neighbor, the Presidency said.

In the course of the meeting, Radev said this country will work consistently to restore the opportunity for a Bulgarian church in Bucharest with services in Bulgarian.

The representatives of the Bulgarian community there asked that one more Bulgarian language teacher be sent for the local community. It was also suggested that the offices of the founders of Sofia University, the Evlogi and Hristo Georgiev brother be turned into a museum of the Bulgarian National Revival and friendly Bulgarian-Romanian relations. /PK/


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