Prime Minister Kiril Petkov is on an official visit to Serbia at the invitation of Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic. The two gave a joint press conference.

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Bernabic welcomed the Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, calling him “our friend”. She congratulated him on his election as Prime Minister and wished him well and good luck.

“As I told you when we met, you will have the full cooperation of the Government of the Republic of Serbia and my staff, especially while I am in this position, to work together to make relationships between Bulgaria and Serbia, politically and economically stronger and better. Our cooperation is excellent, but I think it can still improve, especially when we talk about trade and the economy,” said Bernabic.

She also said that they would work together and thanked Petkov that Serbia is one of the first countries visited by the Bulgarian since becoming Prime Minister. And this is the first visit to Serbia of the Prime Minister of Bulgaria since 2012.

With his visit, Petkov showed his commitment to resolving all outstanding issues so that the Western Balkans can have a clear European perspective.

Brnabic thanked Bulgaria for his support in SerbiaEuropean integration process. The Serbian Prime Minister asked for support for the opening of a new negotiating chapter on the economy and competitiveness. Serbia wants to open this chapter during the French EU Presidency.

Brnabic also declared having completed the part of Corridor 10 up to the border with Bulgaria and for them, the priority is to modernize the railway to the border. Many energy infrastructure and gas connectivity projects are also priorities.

With regard to the Bulgarian minority of Serbiait was agreed to resolve urgent issues. Brnabic said that she hopes to continue intensive cooperation to strengthen economic and political relations between Serbia and Bulgaria.

“We share the same ideas on all the subjects that unite us – the first is that it is important that regions have maximum connectivity so that economic development can go in parallel”, said Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov.

Energy connectivity between the two countries, especially gas, will be a high priority. The Greek connection through Bulgaria should be completed in June and will allow Serbia to receive liquefied and Azerbaijani gas.

There is great potential for creating a single market for gas trading between Bulgaria, SerbiaRNM and Greece, Petkov said.

The section of the highway between Nis and Dimitrovgrad becomes a top priority for our country. Additional road links between the two countries were also discussed.

“At the same time, we discussed the possibility of bringing together the brains of the two countries – startups, start-ups in the IT sector to be able to work together,” he added. says Kiril Petkov.

Meetings between the ministers of the two countries are planned, the main task being to eliminate local corruption and e-government among the main priorities.

“SerbiaEuropean integration is a big priority for us, so in us you not only have friends, but also a partner who really supports you”, Petkov told Brnabic.

There was also talk of common tourist trails to unite the tourist offer in Bulgaria and Serbiapossible connections Belgrade-Burgas, Belgrade-Varna.

The consumption volumes of the whole region must be pooled in order to be able to negotiate better prices.

The ability to build joint facilities, including potential nuclear co-investments, was discussed.

“Especially if Bulgaria manages to realize the next project in Kozloduy, it would be good to separate the risk of such a project.

The de-escalation of tensions in Ukraine must be done through diplomacy, insist the two Prime Ministers.

“Hoping that international law will be respected by all parties to the conflict, in this case, we hope that the Russian Federation will respect international law because it is important for stability in the region,” the prime minister said.

The Bulgarian Prime Minister has already met with Serbian President Alexander Vucic. The program of Kiril Petkov also includes a meeting with the President of the National Assembly Ivica Dacic.

The main topics of discussion are the European integration of Serbia and the Western Balkans, bilateral relations, energy cooperation, infrastructure and economic issues of common interest.

/BNT

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