Bulgaria will host the 2016 edition of the Arraiolos meeting, which gathers the non-executive presidents of EU member states.

Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev identified the hosting of the meeting as a historical success for Bulgaria and its foreign policy.

He stated this at the end of this year's edition, which was hosted by the German city of Erfurt on Monday and Tuesday.

Plevneliev assured that Bulgaria will prepare well for hosting the meeting and will send a signal to the countries of the Balkans that Europe is thinking and acting in the interest of the democratically developing states in the region.

The coordination of the topics to be discussed at the next meeting is forthcoming, the presidential press service informs.

Plevneliev also assured that Bulgaria will place the issue of Southeastern Europe at the centre of its foreign policy.

He noted that the hosting of the meeting will coincide with the Bulgarian chairmanship of the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP), which will last until the middle of 2016.

The Bulgarian head of state expressed hope that concrete results in the interest of the people from the region will be achieved.

As regards the unprecedented migratory pressure facing Europe, Plevneliev highlighted the acute need of a united European approach to the refugee crisis.

The heads of state of the eleven countries also discussed the situation in Ukraine, the Middle East as well as the results of the early parliamentary elections in Greece, which were held there on Sunday.

The Arraiolos meeting is held roughly once a year and acts as an informal political forum for the heads of state of the parliamentary republics in the EU.

Its name is derived from the Portuguese town of Arraiolos, where the first such meeting was held in 2003.

The meeting brings together the presidents of Austria, Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Portugal and Slovenia.