Joint meeting of the governments of Bulgaria and Romania

Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and 11 cabinet ministers are in Bucharest, where the joint meeting of the governments of Bulgaria and Romania begins on 29th of March. Later on, the four-party summit between Bulgaria, Greece, Romania and Serbia will be held. The leaders of the four Balkan countries are gathering in this format at the initiative of Prime Minister Borissov, which will be their seventh meeting, hosted by Romania.

The talks between the two delegations include economic, transport and security topics. Three agreements will also be signed in this area.

The development of trade and economic cooperation will be highlighted in view of the growth in exchange of goods with Romania by almost 7% in the past year and the interest shown by both sides in fostering interaction in the field of small and medium-sized enterprises. Consideration will be given to deepening the links between Romanian and Bulgarian businesses, particularly in the field of innovation and high technology.

Improvement of the shipping conditions in the joint Bulgarian-Romanian section of the Danube river as well as the transport connections between the two countries will be another focus of the bilateral talks in Bucharest. Expanding transport links along the Danube is essential to facilitate traffic, boost contacts between businesses and people on both sides, as well as tourist exchanges.

Cooperation in the area of prevention, preparedness and response to emergencies, natural and man-made disasters and fires will lso be in the focus of the talks. Bulgaria and Romania will also discuss energy issues.

Minister Petya Avramova will introduce her Romanian counterpart to the electronic vignette introduced from January 1, 2019 in Bulgaria and the forthcoming toll on heavy goods vehicles from August 16 this year.

Later on, the seventh consecutive quadripartite meeting, Prime Ministers Boyko Borissov, Alexis Tsipras, Viorica Dunchila and President Alexandar Vucic will discuss progress on joint projects in the region in the areas of transport, infrastructure and energy.