site.btaBulgaria, United States Confirm Their Strategic Partnership

Bulgaria, United States Confirm Their Strategic Partnership


Sofia, January 15 (BTA) - US Secretary of State John Kerry
visited Sofia on Thursday to hold talks with President Rosen
Plevneliev, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and Foreign Minister
Daniel Mitov. The sides discussed energy security and energy
diversification, security and defence cooperation, and US visa
regulations.

ROSEN PLEVNELIEV

Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev and US Secretary of State
John Kerry expressed their shared view that Bulgaria and the US
are strategic partners. They noted that the two nations are
willing to invigorate their bilateral cooperation by placing
particular emphasis on economic ties, energy security, the rule
of law, and security affairs, the President's Press Secretariat
reported.

Plevneliev said Bulgaria's public institutions are well aware
that improving the capacity of the public administration and
reforming the judicial system are the mechanisms which can allow
 them to regain the confidence of civil society and attract more
 investment. The President expects 2015 to be "the year of
reforms" in Bulgaria as the public institutions address existing
 problems in the energy sector, the pension system, and health
care.

Bulgaria and all Southeastern Europe are working for more
connectivity and integration in the field of energy in order to
overcome existing dependencies regarding the supply of energy
resources, Plevneliev said. The building of interconnectors
between the natural gas transmission networks of Bulgaria and
its neighbours and the implementation of the projects relevant
to the Southern Gas Corridor will help improve regional energy
stability and provide more natural gas for Europe, he said.

Plevneliev thanked Kerry for the US government's consistent
support for the modernization of the Bulgarian Armed Forces and
the improvement of their interoperability with the Armed Forces
of NATO. He said Bulgaria will work to honour the commitments
assumed at the September 2014 NATO Summit in Wales concerning
the need to spend more money on national defence capabilities.

The President went on to say that by developing its
high-technology sector, Bulgaria can specialize in cybersecurity
 within NATO. He updated the US Secretary of State on the
Programme "Bulgaria in NATO and in European Defence 2020" and on
 projects aimed to reduce the country's dependence on a single
arms supplier.

Plevneliev and Kerry discussed the risks and threats arising
from the geopolitical instability in this part of the world and
mapped out measures to enhance their cooperation in handling
terrorist threats.

Kerry reiterated US President Barack Obama's position that
Washington is firmly behind all allies in NATO vis-а-vis the
situation in Eastern Ukraine, the Bulgarian President's Press
Secretariat reported. The guest praised Bulgaria's contribution
to the peacekeeping and humanitarian operations in Afghanistan
and Iraq and to building NATO's defence potential in the Black
Sea region.

Plevneliev noted that an efficient agreement on the
Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership will allow both
the EU and the US to boost their economic growth and establish
new standards of economic cooperation in the world.

BOYKO BORISSOV

Emerging from a meeting with Prime Minister Boyko Borissov,
Kerry said no country should be dependent on another country for
 its energy supplies. Speaking through an interpreter, Kerry
said the US is ready to help Bulgaria, which has made difficult
decisions, to stand up for its future, attract investment, and
draw up a plan for the nation's future in the field of energy.
He said the US government will send an energy expert to Bulgaria
 to assist the Energy Ministry in working out the plan.

Kerry and Borissov discussed ways to enhance energy security in
Bulgaria and Europe. The guest said it is very important to
diversify energy sources and improve energy connectivity between
 neighbouring countries.

The US fully supports Bulgaria's plans to reform its judicial
system, the Secretary of State said.

Borissov recalled that Bulgaria has imposed a moratorium on
shale gas development in its territory, which will be in place
until a technology is invented that can guarantee 100 per cent
that the process does not pollute the environment. Shale gas
deposits in Bulgaria are in its main agricultural region where
the soil is most fertile, he said. Sofia's position is very
clear and its partners know it, he added.

Taking a journalist's question about the possibility of lifting
the US visa requirement for Bulgarians, Kerry said this would be
 a very positive step for both countries. He noted, however,
that the Visa Waiver Program of the US government is highly
specific and uses very strict criteria, and in order to include
a country in the programme, the US visa refusal rate for
travellers from that country should be below 3 per cent. The
Secretary said that in 2014 the US visa refusal rate for
Bulgaria was 15.2 per cent.

During their meeting, Borissov and Kerry discussed defence and
security matters, energy diversification, the rule of law, and
cultural relations between Bulgaria and the US. The two
countries set up four working groups to deepen and strengthen
bilateral partnership.

DANIEL MITOV

Bulgarian Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov and US Secretary of
State John Kerry reaffirmed the strong strategic partnership
between their countries, the Foreign Ministry reported. Mitov
and Kerry discussed a wide range of issues, including challenges
 to regional and global politics and security, cooperation in
defence and security, energy security and energy
diversification, and the rule of law.

The two agreed to keep up their cooperation through working
groups in four areas.

The first area is security and defence. Faced with a
dramatically changing security environment in Europe and a
transnational terrorism threat, Sofia and Washington agreed to
work for upgrading regional security, including by conducting
joint exercises, implementing the NATO Readiness Action Plan,
taking actions to reinforce stability and security, and
encouraging the Transatlantic integration of Southeastern
Europe. The US committed itself to working with Bulgaria and
other allies to help Bulgaria modernize its Armed Forces and
make them more interoperable with NATO.

Second, energy security. Bulgaria and the US will work to
improve Bulgaria's energy security by diversifying energy
supplies and distribution, including by promoting energy
connectivity with Bulgaria neighbours. Bulgaria and the US will
work together, and also with the EU, to enhance the investment
climate in order to attract the interest of the private sector.

Third, the rule of law. The US welcomed Bulgaria's determination
 to implement major reforms relevant to the rule of law in line
with a global initiative known as the Open Government
Partnership. This implies reforming the judicial system,
strengthening law institutions and combating corruption by
enhancing the transparency of public procurement procedures,
etc. Bulgaria and the US will continue to cooperate in the fight
 against corruption and international organized crime through
professional exchange and shared expertise.

Finally, education and people-to-people ties. Bulgaria and the
US will promote their mutual understanding and lasting bilateral
 relations through educational and cultural exchange under the
Fulbright Program and other formal and informal exchange
mechanisms, and will build lasting relationships between the
participants in the exchange programmes of the two countries.

Considering the expanded partnership, the deepening bilateral
relations and the magnitude of the shared agenda of Bulgaria and
 the US, Mitov and Kerry agreed to establish a US-Bulgaria
Strategic Dialogue. It will involve regular meetings in
Washington and Sofia to discuss and encourage progress on a
number of bilateral, regional and global matters of shared
interest for Bulgaria and the US, the Foreign Ministry reported.