Bulgarian, Greek Foreign Ministers Discuss Bilateral Cooperation
Meeting in Athens ahead of a joint meeting of the governments of Bulgaria and Greece, Bulgaria's foreign minister Nikolay Mladenov and his Greek counterpart Stavros Dimas discussed issues of bilateral cooperation, including the construction of a gas link and the opening of new border checkpoints.
"Bulgaria supports the efforts of the Greek government and public to deal with the crisis. Greece is our priority partner in the EU and in the Balkans, and that is why we have a big agenda for the second joint meeting of the governments of the two countries due this spring," Mladenov said after the meeting, as quoted by Bulgaria's foreign ministry.
"The Cold War built an artificial iron curtain between our two countries which included isolation of our energy grids. The gas link will be an important step in doing away with this heritage and diversifying our energy supplies," Bulgaria's top diplomat said.
He added that there are plans to scrap the requirement for Bulgarian visas for the holders of Schengen visas from third countries, which would promote joint tourist packages offered by Greek and Bulgarian tour operators.