site.btaPresident Radev Meets UN Secretary General, Armenian PM, Bulgarian Community Members in Saint Petersburg

105 POLITICS - PRESIDENT RADEV - RUSSIA - MEETINGS Amp.2

President Radev Meets
UN Secretary General, Armenian PM,
Bulgarian Community Members in Saint Petersburg


Saint Petersburg, June 7 (BTA) - On the second day of his visit to Saint Petersburg, President Rumen Radev conferred with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pasinyan and members of the Bulgarian community there, Radev's Press Secretariat reported.

The Bulgarian head of State is visiting the Russian Federation
between June 6 and 8 to take part in the St. Petersburg
International Economic Forum.

Radev and Guterres agreed that withdrawing from multilateral diplomacy is a threat to security and stability, and serves as precondition for generating crises. They also concurred that climate change, the fight against terrorism and sustainable development require joint efforts and approach from UN member states.

Bulgaria highly values and supports the reform efforts to improve the UN's efficiency and capability, Radev said. He also called on the global organization to utilize to a much larger extent its abilities to prevent emerging crises, in addition to resolving them.

The two shared the view that the escalation of tension in international relations, the withdrawal from key disarmament agreements and increasing migrant flows cannot be overcome unilaterally by any country, and should not erode the UN's activities.

Earlier in the day, President Rumen Radev conferred with Armenian Prime Minister Pasinyan. The two discussed the perspectives for improving the connectivity in the Black Sea region as a precondition for encouraging trade, investments, tourism and education.

Prime Minister Pasinyan invited Bulgaria to take part in the
construction of a motorway connecting Armenia and Iran, which is
part of the transport corridor between the Black Sea and the
Persian Gulf. China has already shown interest in the project
and its financing could be part of the joint efforts to develop
the communication links between Europe and Asia, he said.

President Radev once again stressed the need to open a direct
flight between Bulgaria and Armenia, while Pasinyan called for
promoting the contacts between the two countries' tourism
agencies. He also requested Bulgaria's support for easing
Armenia's visa regime with the EU.

Addressing members of the Bulgarian community in Saint
Petersburg, Radev said: "We all have the joint responsibility to
preserve our language, culture and traditions," his Press
Secretariat reported.

He outlined the deep cultural and historical ties between
Bulgaria and Russia and quoted the famous Saint Petersburg
native Academician Dmitry Likhachov, who described Bulgaria as a
"State of the spirit". The Bulgarian President recalled that it
Russia got its alphabet from Bulgaria, and that Christianity
and the Old Bulgarian Church Slavonic language came from the
Bulgarian lands. A thousand years later, in 1878, Bulgaria gets
its freedom from Russia, for which thousands of Russian soldiers
have died. "These are spiritual ties so deep and strong that no
political conjuncture can change them. That is why our
relations are important and it is our duty to develop them in
all dimensions," Radev said.

The President thanked the Bulgarian community for representing
their country in Russia with dignity.

***

BTA Special Correspondent Lora Metanova contributed to this story from St. Petersburg. RY, LI/MY

/МЙ/