During his visit to Italy, President Rosen Plevneliev spoke for more than an hour with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti. Bulgaria and Italy have very similar long-term priorities and share the necessary measures to overcome the crisis in Europe. These include carrying out the necessary structural reforms, implementing programmes to reduce youth unemployment in Europe, to support innovation and small and medium enterprises.

Prime Minister Monti and President Plevneliev shared the view that economic growth cannot be purchased with new debt, but must be achieved through pragmatism and reforms. “We are including on the agenda in Brussels the issue of participation of the next generation of Europeans in this discussion, because it should not suffer from the accumulation of new debt, as is happening now,” President Plevneliev said. It is certain that there are no easy solutions, but Bulgaria works for stability, he said.

Prime Minister Mario Monti described as “impressive” the progress made by Bulgaria and confirmed Italy's support for Bulgaria's accession to the Schengen visa zone.

Energy efficiency and energy liberalization are essential for both countries. President Plevneliev said that these issues, together with measures to diversify sources of energy, create a need for a common European energy policy.

Earlier, the Head of State visited the Saints Vincent and Anastasius church in Rome, which is made available to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church for worship.