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Bulgaria and Greece must strengthen the EU’s presence in Southeast Europe, said the Greek Minister for Development

by AI | 28.Feb 2025 | Europe in brief AI

Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev called for the joint development of the economy of the future.

Minister of Development of Greece Panagiotis Theodorikakos Photo: Hristo Kasabov/BTA

SOFIA – Bulgaria and Greece need to further enhance their cooperation and strengthen the European Union’s (EU) presence in Southeast Europe, said Greek Development Minister Panagiotis Theodorikakos at a business forum in Sofia, organized by the Bulgarian-Greek Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He added that the two countries should take a leading role in the Balkans and play a joint role regarding the EU’s enlargement towards the Western Balkans.

In a time of great challenges, Bulgaria and Greece are called to cooperate even more closely in the coming years in the fields of defense, migration, and energy, said the Greek minister. According to him, the year 2025 could be decisive for the development of bilateral cooperation.

From January 1st, a new reality began to take shape in Southeast Europe following Bulgaria’s and Romania’s accession to the Schengen area, he stated, noting that this creates a new, large market without borders between Greece, Bulgaria, and Romania, connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Black Sea. We fully supported the accession of friendly Bulgaria to the Schengen area and we will unconditionally support accession to the eurozone, said Theodorikakos.

“We are happy to work together in the common European family,” said Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Communications Grozdan Karadjov at the forum. “For us, it is very important to develop the Bulgarian seaports in Varna and Burgas, which stand on the route of freight traffic between Asia and Europe. Here we also have a common goal with Greece,” said Karadjov.

According to Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Innovations and Growth Tomislav Donchev, the most important thing for the two countries as friends and partners is to think together about the economy of the future. He added that the topics and economy of the future will be about who can harness energy in a previously unknown way, the development of new materials. This is the future, and there we must unite our efforts and together, as EU members, try to change the union for the better, said Donchev.

Bulgarian Minister of Economy and Industry Petar Dilov pointed out that Greece is an important partner for Bulgaria and ranks fourth among trade partners with a bilateral trade turnover of 4.6 billion euros in 2023. For January-October 2024, bilateral trade turnover reached 3.9 billion euros, noted the Minister of Economy. (February 27)