site.btaForeign Minister Gabriel: Estonia Support Bulgaria’s Bid to Join Eurozone

Estonia supports Bulgaria in its bid to be part of the euro area, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mariya Gabriel told a news conference on Friday, emerging from a meeting with Estonian counterpart Margus Tsahkna. He is on an official visit to Bulgaria at Gabriel's invitation.

Gabriel reiterated that Bulgaria aims to become part of the euro area on January 1, 2025. The meeting topics on the bilateral and also the Euro-Atlantic agenda, the Deputy Prime Minister said and thanked Estonia for its support for Bulgaria’s Schengen bid. In 2024 Bulgaria will continue its efforts to abolish land border controls, Gabriel said.

Bulgaria and Estonia have traditionally good relations. The two countries are partners and allies in the EU and NATO, and this year together we will celebrate the 20th anniversary of Bulgaria and Estonia joining NATO, Gabriel said. In recent years, the two countries have enhanced cooperation, she added.

Bulgaria is a good opportunity to strengthen cooperation in a number of key areas. The area of digitization and e-government was highlighted very strongly. “We discussed the interest of Estonian companies for investment presence in Bulgaria in areas related to new technologies and innovation. Estonia is the digital champion of Europe,” Gabriel said. According to her, it is important to focus on investing and developing digital infrastructure. Cybersecurity was also among the topics of discussion between the two ministers.

Gabriel thanked Estonia for its support for Bulgaria's membership in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. “This is a major foreign policy priority for Bulgaria, we are grateful for the support to start this process; our ambition is to complete it within three years,” the Deputy Prime Minister added.

Support for Ukraine was also confirmed during the talks between Gabriel and Tsakhna. Bulgaria will continue to support Ukraine as much as necessary, the Deputy Prime Minister said.

The two strategic areas where we will seek cooperation are energy and defence, Gabriel said. EU enlargement is a topic on which both sides agree, she added.