Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov met with Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, who was on an official visit to Bulgaria.
The two prime ministers met at the head office of the Bulgarian Council of Ministers in the capital city Sofia. There were both private meetings and talks between the governmental delegations of the two countries.
A memorandum of cooperation in the field of European and European-Atlantic integration between the governments of Bulgaria and Georgia, as well as a memorandum of cooperation in the field of agriculture between the Bulgarian Ministry of Agriculture and Food and the Georgian Ministry of Agriculture, were inked in the frames of President Garibashvili’s visit to Bulgaria.
The memorandums of cooperation in the field of European and European-Atlantic integration was signed by Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and his Georgian counterpart Irakli Garibashvili, while the memorandum of cooperation in the field of agriculture was signed by the heads of the Bulgarian Ministry of Agriculture and Food and the Georgian Ministry of Agriculture.
Before the signing ceremony the two prime ministers held a meeting.
“Georgia is a reliable country and partner of Bulgaria,” Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said after the meeting with his Bulgarian counterpart.
“I would like to thank you for the great hospitality. We are happy to be here in your beautiful country, which is a friend of Georgia.
The Bachkovo Monastery is one of the biggest and oldest Eastern Orthodox monasteries in East Europe. It is a symbol of our common faith and has served as a bridge between our nations. I am happy that you show respect and understanding towards it.
I should also point at the successful cooperation we have in the field of transport and trade. Our countries have great potential for development and integration. The joint sitting that we will hold in the end of January will strengthen this process.
Together with the Bulgarian counterpart we discussed interesting issues concerning both countries,” Mr Garibashvili remarked.
He added that the two examined the possibilities to strengthen the cooperation in the field of trade and other strategic sectors.
“We evaluate highly Bulgaria’s support for our EU accession. I hope that your experience will be useful to Georgia.
We also discussed a plan for liberalisation of the visa regime, on which the European Commission is expected to make a final ruling.
We also examined the cooperation in the field of transport. We discussed the Silk Road initiative,” Irakli Garibashvili commented further.
The Georgian Prime Minister thanked for Bulgaria’s engagement in the process of realisation of the NATO-Georgia comprehensive package of measures adopted in Wales.
“China-Georgia-Bulgaria tripartite cooperation may bring good benefits,” Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said.
“We hope that with the memorandums inked between Bulgaria and Georgia, the support that Georgia needs on its way to the the EU and NATO integration, and of course the help we are expected to provide within our modest possibilities in terms of visa liberalisation, in political and any other aspect of our friendship, is already a fact.
What is more interesting for the citizens is the transport corridors, which are highly important for us in terms of the freight trucks and trains,” Borisov remarked.
In his words, the new Silk Road allows the ports of Georgia and Bulgaria to become part of this corridor.
“We will also work for the tripartite cooperation among China, Georgia and Bulgaria and make it bring good benefits and results,” the Bulgarian Prime Minister remarked.
“Another thing that can help us in the future is Bulgarian Foreign Minister’s visit to Iran on December 22-23.We hope to establish even better relations for the LNG terminal at the Georgian ports,” Boyko Borisov commented further.
According to him, this will bring gas to our ports, too.