Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Mariya Gabriel visited Israel together with Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov. The intensive programme of the visit included a meeting with the President of Israel Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Foreign Minister Gabriel also held a separate meeting with her Israeli counterpart, Eli Cohen. She expressed Bulgaria's deep sympathy with the Israeli people and strongly condemned the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel on October 7. Solidarity, gratitude and looking to the next steps of the strategic partnership between Bulgaria and Israel were among the key messages of the Deputy Prime Minister.
"I warmly thank my colleague Eli Cohen, a dear friend of Bulgaria, for the assistance Israel has provided in evacuating the 36 Bulgarian citizens and their family members from Gaza, as well as the short-term Bulgarian residents in Israel who have appealed for assistance since the start of the conflict," Gabriel said.
Minister Cohen stressed that Bulgaria was among the first countries to evacuate its citizens from Gaza and underlined Gabriel’s special role in this process.
The Bulgarian Foreign Minister underlined the important role that Bulgaria plays within the European Union in terms of preserving the balance and unity of the Union in relation to the difficult security situation in the Middle East region. "Bulgaria will continue to insist on countering anti-Semitism, including through its work within the UN Human Rights Council, of which it is a member for the period 2024-2026," Mariya Gabriel said.
She also expressed hope for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages taken by Hamas. She and Minister Cohen met the families of some of the hostages.
/MT/
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