Caretaker Foreign Minister: Joining OECD is Bulgaria's most serious integration effort after the admission to EU and NATO

Bulgaria's accession to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is the most serious integration effort of our country after our admission to the EU and NATO, the caretaker Foreign Minister Nikolai Milkov said at a briefing at the Council of Ministers on August 11.

Earlier, before the start of the regular cabinet meeting, the caretaker Prime Minister announced that the decree on the preparation of Bulgaria's membership in the organisation would be adopted after the government announced last week that it had to prepare all the necessary documents.

"This topic has always been a priority for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and now for the caretaker government. The accession will affect all spheres of public life. The organisation's motto is 'better policies for better lives. So we are participating, if not in the club of the rich, at least in the club of those who define best practices worldwide", Milkov said.

In his words, there are single areas where the OECD has no affiliation - these are usually defence and home affairs.

The adopted decree is of coordinating nature and builds upon the inter-agency coordination mechanism established in 2017. Working groups have been designated depending on the different instruments and conventions of the organisation.

"On 25 August, the first meeting will take place at which the first tasks will be assigned. The aim is to have an initial version of the so-called inception memorandum to work on by the end of September, which is a response to the roadmap given to us on 10 June this year. The aim is to finalise it by the end of October and present it in November," Minister Milkov said.