Bulgaria and Cyprus will work to strengthen economic and energy ties

Bulgaria’s Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ekaterina Zaharieva, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus, Nikos Christodulidis, have agreed to work for more mutual investments, for more trade and economic cooperation and for expanding the relations in the field of education, culture, sports.

The two held talks within as part of Nikos Christodulidis's official visit to Bulgaria in a year when Bulgaria and Cyprus mark 60 years since the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations.

"Bulgaria and Cyprus are real, good friends. We share many common values, interests and many similar positions in the European Union and other international organizations," said Ekaterina Zaharieva.

She highlighted the excellent ties between the peoples of Bulgaria and Cyprus. "I would like to thank you the Cypriot people for making the Bulgarina community on the island feel well integrated and are a strong link between our two countries," said Ekaterina Zaharieva. About 30,000 Bulgarians live in Cyprus, representing the country's third largest ethnic group.

During the talks, the Foreign Minister highlighted the opportunities for Bulgaria and the region through the projects Cyprus is developing in the energy field. "Cyprus is a very important country for Bulgaria to diversify its natural gas supply and for the whole of Europe. The projects the Bulgarian Government is working on - the interconnector with Greece, the decision for Bulgaria’s participation in the liquefied gas terminal in Alexandroupolis, and your gas fields and the agreement that was recently signed between Cyprus, Greece and Israel, are really opening many opportunities in terms of energy supply and energy security," said Ekaterina Zaharieva.

The two parties agreed that more work should be done to develop trade contacts. In January-June 2019, trade between Bulgaria and Cyprus decreased by 22.7% compared to the same period of 2018 and amounted to EUR 97.9 million. Minister Zaharieva expressed her hope that "the decline we are seeing now in the commodity exchange is only a temporary trend." During the meeting, the importance of the links in tourism and in particular the excellent opportunities for winter sports in Bulgaria with its mountain resorts were emphasized. In the first 11 months of 2019, the number of Cypriot tourists in Bulgaria increased by almost 20% compared to the same period of 2018, with 25,402 Cypriot citizens visiting Bulgaria. In the same period, 11.730 Bulgarian tourists visited Cyprus.

Within the common European policy, the two ministers reaffirmed their support for the European integration of the Western Balkan countries and for a faster decision for launch of EU membership negotiations with the Republic of North Macedonia and Albania.

Ekaterina Zaharieva and Nikos Hristodulidis agreed to work on the signing of bilateral documents for cooperation in the arass of culture, education, sport and external relations. They agreed that the foreign ministries of the two countries sign a memorandum of joint political consultations on important international topics such as the crisis in the Middle East, Libya and the migrant pressure in the region. "Creating a mechanism for bilateral co-operation will deepen our relations," said Cypriot Foreign Minister Nikos Christodulidis.

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