site.btaPresident Radev Holds Working Meeting with Foreign Ambassadors

June 16 (BTA) - During a working meeting Wednesday with
the ambassadors in Bulgaria of EU member states, Switzerland,
and the United States, President Rumen Radev said, quoted by his
 press secretariat, that one of the priorities of the caretaker
government is increasing the transparency in the work of the
institutions and winning back public trust in them. Radev also
said that the caretaker cabinet has proved that ministers with
different political backgrounds can unite around clear
principles, priorities and values.

The meeting was also attended by Vice President Iliyana Iotova
and officials of the European Commission Representation in
Sofia.

The diplomats asked questions about the political situation in
Bulgaria, the fight against corruption, the upcoming hosting by
Bulgaria of the Three Seas Initiative, and the European
integration of the Republic of North Macedonia.

The sanctions imposed on Bulgarian individuals and companies
under the Global Magnitsky Act of the United States were
discussed as well.

Radev said that the next Bulgarian Parliament is expected to
draw up a legal framework with procedures and approaches for
response by the institutions to similar cases in the future. The
 Head of State said that the caretaker government has already
made the first steps in a bid to avert blocking of public
resources and to protect the country's banking sector. Radev
urged for similar measures at European level as well, so as to
avert blocking of EU funding earmarked for individual member
states.

The President described as a step in the right direction a
recent decision of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and
 Home Affairs of the European Parliament to send a mission to
Bulgaria, following the announcement of the Global Magnitsky Act
 sanctions on Bulgarians.

Dwelling on the Three Seas Initiative, Radev noted the
importance of it becoming a stronger platform for active
economic and investment cooperation not only for the countries
in Eastern Europe but also for achieving genuine social and
economic cohesion in the EU.

Bulgaria supports the European perspective of the Republic of
North Macedonia and establishing the country as a strong ally in
 NATO, Radev said. The President assessed highly the positive
signals in the relations between Bulgaria and North Macedonia
over the past weeks, as well as the restoration of dialogue at
the highest level. Radev voiced a hope that this dialogue will
lead to concrete sustainable and irreversible results in the
relations between the two neighbouring countries, which in turn
will speed up the European perspective of North Macedonia. RY/ZH

/DT/