Bulgaria Hands Over Rotating EU Presidency to Austria

Bulgaria‘s Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, Austria’s Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and European Council President Donald Tusk held a meeting on 30^th of June for the symbolic handover of the rotating EU Presidency from Bulgaria to Austria. The event took place Schladming mountain resort in Austria.

"Our slogan was ‘United We Stand Strong’ while the slogan of the Austrian Presidency is ’A Europe that protects’. We can protect only when we are united," PM Borissov said.

Boyko Borissov thanked for the excellent dialogue with Sebastian Kurz during the entire presidency and said he would always be thjere in need of help in the next 6 months.

Sebastian Kurtz, Federal Chancellor of Austria: Austria wishes to be a country that build bridges. We want to work for a very strong European Union and for a secure and common Europe. Thank you, Boyko, for the wonderful work Bulgaria has done during its presidency.

Donald Tusk, President of the European Council: We all work a lot for a strong European Union associated with stability and security. We have to be united. I'm here and I'm counting on you, Sebastian. Better a good neighbour than a distant friend. I thank Boyko, who has made progress on the European perspective of the Western Balkans.

The three leaders arrived together at a height of 2,000 metres under Mount Plana with the cabin lift in one gondola. Before that they had a brief business meeting. The Bulgarian Prime Minister thanked for the constructive dialogue in the Council, which made it possible to renew the attention to the Balkan region.

"Giving a clear horizon for opening pre-accession talks to Albania and Macedonia laid the foundations of the perspective of the entire region and the EU-Western Balkans summit in Sofia in May played a critical role in this process, Borissov noted.

The Austrian Presidency continues the direction of the Bulgarian Presidency, focusing on three key priorities: security and counteracting illegal migration, competitiveness through digitalization, and perspective to the countries in the Western Balkans and Southeast Europe.

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