Grlić Radman holds talks with Bulgarian FM Zakharieva

Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Gordan Grlić Radman 18 October 2019 met with Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zakharieva, who was on an official visit to Croatia

Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Gordan Grlić Radman 18 October 2019 met with Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zakharieva, who was on an official visit to Croatia. The two ministers underscored the exceptionally high level of relations between Croatia and Bulgaria, two friendly countries boasting deep ties and unburdened by outstanding issues.

Grlić Radman reported on the status of preparations for Croatia’s EU chairmanship, highlighting the EU-Western Balkans Summit scheduled for May 2020 in Zagreb. Both Croatia and Bulgaria strongly support the continuation of EU enlargement as well as the strengthening of stability and security in Europe’s neighbourhood, regardless of the uncertainty of the current context following yesterday’s European Council meeting. Grlić Radman and Zakharieva recalled the meeting of the Quadrilateral (Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, and Romania) on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in June, which supported in a joint statement the opening of accession talks with North Macedonia and Albania.

Discussing additional strengthening of economic cooperation and connections, Zakharieva advocated opening direct flights between Sofia and Zagreb and connecting via Corridor VII. She underlined that cooperation in culture and education was very dynamic, adding that the Croatian language and literature are taught in three high schools in Sofia as well as at three Bulgarian universities, while the Zagreb Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences has a Bulgarian language and literature department.

 

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