Bulgaria will Continue to Support Moldova on Road to the EU

Bulgaria will continue to give full support to Moldova in the reforms that the country will take on the road to the European Union, Bulgaria’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva said in Chisinau on 31^st of October during her meetings with Prime Minister Pavel Filip and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Andrei Galbur. Zaharieva is on a two-day visit to the Republic of Moldova.

"Bulgaria has gone through very difficult reforms and many people in the country were asking themselves whether it was worth, but today we can say that it was really worth it. GDP has tripled for 10 years of membership in the EU, economic growth is 4%, our external debt is one of the lowest in Europe as a percentage of GDP, the incomes of citizens increase every year. But most importantly, people in Bulgaria already have the confidence of EU citizens: they can travel, work, study anywhere in Europe,” Zaharieva said. She stressed that the reforms that the Moldovan government was implementing were not because of Brussels but because of the citizens of their country.

Bulgaria was one of the first EU countries to ratify the Association Agreement with the EU concluded between Moldova and the EU on June 27, 2014 - less than a month after it was signed. Bulgaria also supported the decision of the European Parliament for Moldova to be transferred to the positive list under Regulation 539/2001, in accordance with which as of April 28, 2014, citizens of Moldova, who are holders of biometric passports, are entitled to short-term visa-free travel in EU countries.

"Thank you very much for your support on our way to Europe. We need a perspective and light in the tunnel, we can not stay at a crossroads, "Moldovan Prime Minister Pavel Filip said. He invited his Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Borisov to a visit.

The Moldovan Prime Minister introduced Ekaterina Zaharieva to the course of judicial and educational reform in the country. The Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister thanked him that the Moldovan government has imposed a moratorium on the closure of schools in small settlements, which would also have affected the districts with Bulgarian population.

"I am happy that together we will open the Bulgarian Consulate in Taraklia. I hope that it will be used not only for administrative services, but also to support the Bulgarian traditions - cultural and linguistic. I think it is important not only to study the Bulgarian language but also to use it in our society, " Andrei Galbur, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration said at his meeting with his Bulgarian counterpart.

Deputy Prime Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva thanked him for the help for the opening of the consulate. "The Bulgarians in Taraklia are a bridge between our two countries - we need to support their education and the Bulgarian business to contribute to the Moldovan economy," she said.

According to the 2014 census, 51,867 citizens of Bulgarian origin live mainly in the southern regions of Moldova and about 12,000 live in Transnistria. Bulgarians have the status of a minority and the right to dual citizenship.

In the academic year 2016/2017, 104 students of Bulgarian origin living in Moldova were admitted to study in Bulgarian universities, with scholarships from the Bulgarian state. For the academic 2017/2018, Bulgaria will finance the training of 62 Bulgarian students from Moldova.

There is also an increase in business contacts between the two countries. Commodity trade is gradually increasing, reaching $ 94.1 million. In 2016, 179,034 Moldovan citizens visited Bulgaria for tourism and recreation purposes - a 9.1% increase compared to 2015. For the seven months of 2017, the number was 115,775, or by 16.5% more than the same period in 2016.

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