site.btaUS Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken Talks with Bulgaria's President, Prime Minister

US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken Talks with Bulgaria's President, Prime Minister

Sofia, May 6 (BTA) - US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is on a working visit to Sofia on May 6-7, held separate meetings with President Rosen Plevneliev and Prime Minister Boyko Borissov on Friday.

Plevneliev said that strategic partnership between Bulgaria and the United States forms a basis for more active joint steps for coping with the common security challenges. He stressed that amid numerous crises in Bulgaria's neighbouring regions, it remains a predictable, reliable ally, and is a key factor of stability in Southeastern Europe.

The Bulgarian institutions will continue working towards the implementation of the nine projects for modernization of the armed forces. The acquisition of a new type of combat aircraft is the top priority, the President said, urging NATO for active support for this process.

He welcomed the US government's decision to increase funding for the European Reassurance Initiative to 3.4 billion dollars in 2017. The head of State called for equal security guarantees for all countries on NATO's Eastern Flank.

Blinken voiced his country's resolve to defend the security of all its European allies, stressing that this would be confirmed at the upcoming Warsaw NATO Summit. He highlighted the importance of the security situation in the Black Sea region.

The two officials concurred that the Bulgaria-US working groups on security and defence, energy security, the rule of law, the fight against terrorism, and education had deepened the strategic dialogue between the two countries and were already achieving results.

Blinken highly praised the strong commitment of Bulgarian society and the government's political will to bring the judicial reform to fruition. 

The sides agreed that the signing of the Final Investment Decision on the Greece-Bulgaria gas interconnector contributed to achieving real diversification of gas supplies not just to Bulgaria but to Southeastern Europe as well. The increased state guarantee of 110 million euro allocated in the 2016 national budget is proof of Bulgaria's strong commitment to the interconnector with Greece. Sofia is also interested in participating in a project for an LNG terminal at Alexandroupolis, which could supply natural gas to the North-South Corridor.

After meeting with Prime Minister Boyko Borissov on Friday, Blinken said the United States appreciates Bulgaria's leadership in the region for standing up for security, freedom and prosperity, as well as with regard to energy and the rule of law. 

He also praised Bulgaria's fight against corruption and smuggling. This is an extraordinary achievement and there are many lessons Sofia can share with other countries.

Blinken added that the US is strongly committed to Bulgaria and that the two countries stand side by side everywhere from Kosovo to Afghanistan. The US supports the modernization of Bulgaria's armed forces, he added.

Borissov and Blinken talked for slightly over an hour on topics including Bulgaria-US cooperation in defence, the fight against terrorism and energy security. Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov and Defence Minister Nikolay Nenchev attended the meeting.