Bulgarian FM Zaharieva meets Macedonian MPs

Bulgaria’s Vice-Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva met Thursday in Sofia with a delegation of Macedonian MPs – members of the Macedonia-Bulgaria Friendship Group -led by the Assembly’s Deputy Speaker Frosina Tasevska-Remenski, BTA new agency reports.

The meeting was also attended by the Bulgaria-Macedonia Friendship Group chairman, Boris Vangelov and Macedonian Ambassador to Bulgaria Marjan Gjorcev.

‘Since the signing of the bilateral Treaty of Friendship, Good-neighborliness and Cooperation, many historic developments have happened in the relations between Bulgaria and Macedonia. We are doing well in our efforts to build a new kind of sincere, friendly relations based on the European values,’ Zaharieva said.

This treaty, she said, has already yielded results in various areas of the bilateral cooperation, namely a hike of trade exchange and the number of Bulgarian tourists visiting Macedonia for 11 and 10 percent respectively.

According to a survey by the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, following the signing of the bilateral treaty the number of Bulgarian companies wishing to invest in Macedonia has doubled compared to 2016.

Zaharieva reaffirmed her country’s commitment to supporting the European prospect of its neighbors. She expressed hope for Macedonia to meet the necessary EU membership criteria and commence the accession talks in the course of Bulgaria’s EU Presidency.

Macedonia considers Bulgaria to be its sincere friend, Tasevska-Remenski said, notifying that the bilateral treaty signed last year enjoys the support of 75 per cent of citizens. Macedonia, she added, expects Bulgaria’s assistance in the EU pre-accession process.