site.btaBulgaria, UK Concur on Major Economic Challenges Facing EU

Bulgaria, UK Concur on Major Economic Challenges Facing EU

London, June 17 (BTA) - Bulgarian Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov,
who is paying a working visit to London, conferred on Wednesday
with UK Minister of State for Europe David Lidington, Mitov's
Ministry said in a press release.

The two ministers noted the common positions of Bulgaria and the
United Kingdom regarding the key economic challenges facing the
EU: improving the competitiveness of Member States' economies,
completing the Single Market for services, energy and the
digital market, and easing the regulatory and administrative
burden on business, especially on small and medium-sized
enterprises. These shared priorities provide a good starting
point for the pursuit of cooperation between the two countries
within the framework of the UK-Estonia-Bulgaria Trio Presidency
of the EU Council in 2017-2018.

Mitov stressed the issues of the European integration of the
Western Balkans, discussing in detail the prospects for a way
out of the political crisis in Macedonia and the key place and
role of the EU in this respect.

The chief Bulgarian diplomat stressed the particular importance
of developing the energy infrastructure of the countries in the
region and encouraging measures to interconnect their gas
transmission networks with a view to meeting EU targets for
greater energy security in Europe and diversified energy
supplies.

Lidington agreed with the Bulgarian analysis and confirmed
Britain's readiness to support consistently infrastructure
projects in the region intended to implement the key EU ambition
of setting up a common Energy Union.

The sides expressed their shared concern about the foreign
fighters phenomenon and stressed the need of even closer
cooperation between the competent institutions of the EU
partners and NATO allies to successfully counter this
significant problem, the Foreign Ministry press release says.

Guest Lecture

The numerous disparate challenges of the present which confront
the European Union and the options for a collective coordinated
response were in the focus of a guest lecture titled "EU Foreign
Policy: the View from Bulgaria" that Bulgarian Foreign Minister
Daniel Mitov gave at the London School of Economics and
Political Science (LSE) on Tuesday. The invitation for the
lecture came from the LSEE - Research on South Eastern Europe, a
unit at the LSE European Institute.

Present security risks are disparate in their origin and nature
but, essentially, they represent an attempt to launch and assert
socio-political models alternative to liberal democracy which
has gained much new ground since the end of the Cold War, Mitov
said. He insisted that this requires a clear and resolute
response from the EU and the Member States in defence of
European citizens' security and prosperity. The world of the
21st century has no place for ideologies of aggression and
intolerance, the chief Bulgarian diplomat stressed.

In Mitov's words, the European perspective of the Western
Balkans now faces two key challenges. On the one part, this is
the enlargement fatigue among EU Member States. On the other
hand, this is the weakened enthusiasm among candidate countries
to carry out the reports needed for a successful finalization of
the European integration processes.

Bulgaria consistently argues that, in its response to these
challenges, the European Union must keep up clear membership
prospects for the Western Balkans, acknowledging the individual
progress made by the separate candidate countries, the Foreign
Minister said. Those of them which have the strongest will to
implement and apply the reforms needed for EU accession must be
resolutely encouraged, Mitov believes.