Bulgaria’s Foreign Minister met with Ukraine’s PM and senior officials in Kiev

Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva, who is on an official visit to Ukraine, on September 18, had a meeting with Ukrainian Prime
Minister Denys Shmyhal; with the chairperson of Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada, Dmytro Razumkov; Ukrainian MPs and two deputy Prime Ministers.

PM Shmyhal personally committed to the speedy opening of a state secondary Bulgarian school in Odessa. In exchange, Sofia will provide an immovable property for the
setting up of a Ukrainian cultural centre in the Bulgarian capital.

"In the person of Bulgaria, your country has one of its most sincere friends in the EU and NATO," Zaharieva assured the Prime Minister, conveying to him special greetings from his Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Borissov and extending to him an invitation to visit Bulgaria, which Shmyhal accepted right away.

The two discussed a broad range of issues, including the situation of the Bulgarian community in Ukraine and teaching Bulgarian langusge, EU and NATO integration processes, trade and economic contacts, and energy diversification.

Zaharieva directly raised the question about the opening of a state secondary Bulgarian school in Odessa, on which Bulgaria

has insisted for several years. The Prime Minister Shmyhal promised to personally instruct his education minister to speed up the procedure. At Zaharieva's request, the Ukrainian Government will also take steps for the protection of Bulgarian philology as a course of studies at the Ukrainian universities. The rehabilitation of the Odessa-Bolhrad-Reni road was also discussed.The two also discussed the measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

We need to make a clear assessment of whether we have the strength to survive a second economic closure in the second wave of the pandemic. Our government has decided not to close entire sectors of the economy again, as we will not be able to rebuild our economies soon. Health care is very important, but this can also happen in parallel with a working economy," Zaharieva said. Prime Minister Shmyhal fully agreed with this view and said that his government was pursuing the same policy.

"When protective clothing was most badly needed, we managed to send 500 reusable protective suits for your doctors," the Foreign Minister said. She was thanked for the timely assistance from both Bulgaria and the EU. The emergency macro-financial assistance package for Ukraine of up to € 1.2 billion to address the socio-economic consequences of the pandemic was approved by the EP and the Council on 25 May 2020.

Zaharieva and Shmyhal also discussed EU-Ukraine relations in the context of the Association Council, which will take place next month. "It is time to plan the future of the Eastern Partnership because the 'more for more' principle should not just be words, but countries that want more integration, both politically and economically, should be given this chance. Bulgaria would also support a change in Ukraine's association agreement with the EU in this direction," the Bulgarian top diplomat said.

The two were adamant that the Joint Intergovernmental Commissio for Economic Cooperation, which has not had a session for 10 years, must meet next year and a business forum must be organized in Sofia.

The Chairperson of Verkhovna Rada, Razumkov, who together with a group of Ukrainian MPs, received Zaharieva, said: "We highly appreciate your country's support for our territorial integrity and your long-standing support both bilaterally and internationally. The coronavirus has significantly changed our work, but I hope that we will be able to resume more intensive parliamentary cooperation soon. Our two countries have a very good relationship."

"There is an age-old friendship between Bulgaria and Ukraine, and this is not an overstatement: our ties date back to the First Bulgarian Empire. The largest Bulgarian
historical community abroad, in Ukraine, contributes to that. I am grateful to the Verkhovna Rada for adopting an administrative decree which not only kept but enlarged the Bolhrad region," the Bulgarian Deputy PM said.

Zaharieva was referring to a Verkhovna Rada decree adopted on July 17, 2020 which preserved the Bolhrad region as a separate administrative division, with Bolhrad as its administrative centre, and incorporated new regions into it - the Tarutyne and Artsyz -where the Bulgarian community is predominant. The enlarged Bolhrad region has nearly 74,000 Bulgarian residents. The largest Bulgarian community in Ukraine was thus brought together in a single administrative unit consisting of 10 municipalities.

Zaharieva also held talks with two Verkhovna Rada MPs of Bulgarian descent, the co-chairs of the group for Friendship with Bulgaria, Tetiana Plachkova and Oleksandr Kopylenko.

At the end of her visit to Kiev, Deputy Prime Minister Zaharieva laid flowers in front of the monument to Bulgarian freedom fighter Captain Petko Voivoda, who spent part of his life in the city.