Within the frameworks of the 4th summit in Thessaloniki, taking place under the patronage of Greece’s President Prokopis Pavlopoulos, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov held talks with his counterparts from Greece and North Macedonia - Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Zoran Zaev. The dialogue fits into a new kind of dynamism in bilateral and multilateral cooperation in the region that has emerged in the past few days and weeks.
Boyko Borissov assured Mitsotakis that an accelerated rate of construction of the Bulgaria-Greece gas interconnector is a priority for the entire region and that he will, personally, continue to keep track of the project’s implementation. The Bulgarian PM assumed a personal commitment in this respect four days ago while he was inspecting the construction of the interconnector near Haskovo in Southern Bulgaria. The interconnector is one of the seven most important EU energy projects because it will allow for the real diversification of the supply routes and sources across Greece, with supplies from the Caspian region, the Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean via existing and new terminals in Greece and Turkey. Expressing confidence, in discussion with Kyriakos Mitsotakis, that the bilateral relations will continue to deepen under the new government in Athens, Boyko Borissov emphasized that the Burgas-Alexandroupolis rail connection project is an important element of this cooperation. This infrastructure is part of the biggest project for a multimodal freight corridor between Aegean and the Black Sea - Sea2Sea.
Again four days ago Boyko Borissov commented that “Bulgaria and Greece must distribute their resources and capabilities in such a way so that Greece may be able to use the Black Sea and the Danube, and Bulgaria – the Aegean.” In this context the Borissov government has an idea for the construction of a road between the Greek port of Alexandroupolis and the Bulgarian Dimitrovgrad.
Addressing the Thessaloniki summit, Boyko Borissov expressed concern over the division in society in North Macedonia regarding the EU. Laying emphasis on the fact that the efforts for accession to the EU must be huge as well as clear, the Bulgarian Prime Minister stated he would continue helping his counterpart Zoran Zaev in this direction. At the Thessaloniki meeting Macedonian officials affirmed that North Macedonia remains committed to the reforms connected with the start of EU accession negotiations.
In Thessaloniki the Bulgarian Prime Minister announced that the quadripartite meeting between Bulgaria, Greece, Romania and Serbia - a traditional platform for consolidating regional economic and political cooperation - would be take place in the Bulgarian city of Varna in December.
While the meeting in Thessaloniki was taking place, Greece’s Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias paid a visit to Belgrade. The discussions he had there were part of the preparations for the meeting of the Serbia-Greece cooperation council due in Athens in December.
The heightened activity in the regional dialogue at different levels and in different formats raises expectations of a deeper and comprehensive cooperation in the Balkans.
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