Minister Selakovic: Strengthening economic and overall cooperation with Bulgaria

He recalled that this was one of his first ministerial visits in general, and the second in the region.

"During the talks with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, Ekaterina Zaharieva, it was noted on the part of both Bulgarian and our side that as foreign ministers we should see each other more often and make the most of the advantages that we have as a region", Selakovic said.

They also discussed the need to promote bilateral relations and, as he pointed out, the successes achieved in the past several years through joint cooperation, as evidenced by a great success in the development of infrastructure projects.

In this context, Minister Selakovic underlined the motorway to connect Belgrade and Sofia, which was already completed on the Serbian side of the border.

"The section on the Bulgarian side should be completed by the end of the year, thus ensuring that our capital cities are connected by a modern motorway and just over three hours drive away", the Serbian Foreign Minister underlined.

The collocutors also discussed energy projects, such as the Balkan Stream, and the construction of a gas interconnection between Serbia and Bulgaria that would ensure energy diversification, the Minister said.

He touched upon the importance of tourism for the two states, noting that before the Covid-19 pandemic the two countries had recorded historic successes in terms of exchange of guests, both Serbian in Bulgaria and Bulgarian in Serbia.

According to the Minister all of the above pointed to the need to deepen and enhance the cooperation in the future.

"By completing a gas interconnection, an entire pipeline will be completed. Works on the motorway are also being brought to an end and we should, therefore, explore what our future projects will be, as there is a lot of room in this regard", Minister Selakovic noted.

Minister Selakovic discussed the same topics also with the Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov.

"We also talked about the economic cooperation which at this point focuses on trade in goods. But we also need a joint economic cooperation, in order to open third markets to our enterprises and companies, perhaps even through joint participation there", Selakovic concluded.

After these meetings the Minister also had talks with Bulgarian President Rumen Radev on all of the above issues.

President Radev took the opportunity to express Bulgaria's gratitude to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic for following up on the commitments towards the Bulgarian minority in Serbia.

Minister Selakovic described the visit to Bulgaria as the "new beginning" in the diplomatic bilateral relations between the two countries, taking into account that a Serbian Foreign Minister last paid an official visit to Bulgaria in 2014.

Source: Tanjug