Signing the good-neighborly relations agreement between Bulgaria and Macedonia is an important step on the path towards strengthening the ties between the two peoples and the European integration of the countries in the region. This is what President Rosen Plevneliev said, who received Macedonian Head of State Gjorge Ivanov at a working meeting at 2 Dondukov street today.

President Plevneliev voiced conviction that the good-neighborly relations agreement with Macedonia will lead to more mutual investments, successful regional infrastructure projects, high achievements in the sphere of tourism and the mobility of qualified specialists.

The Head of State gave as an example the good-neighborliness agreements signed with Turkey and Romania and their favorable impact on the development of cooperation in the region. “The regulation of the bilateral relations with these countries ensured peace of the business, contentment in our societies and more trust among our international partners,” the President said.

The Head of State recalled that for Bulgaria the preservation and restoration of the Bulgarian military monuments is of great importance. “We expect that a final decision will soon be made on the issue of placing a memorial plaque of the Bulgarian servicemen who died near Kaymakchalan,”   the president said.

The President highlighted the importance of conducting reforms in key sectors in Macedonia and guaranteeing the independence of the judicial authorities as an indispensable part on the path to the country’s European integration.

The Macedonian Head of State, for his part, called for more regional initiatives which will make the Balkans a more active participant in formulating European policy. “Our region should be more united, we should be led by pragmatism, and should not allow the historical burdens to hinder our cooperation in today’s dynamic world,” Gjorge Ivanov said.

The Macedonian President is on a working visit to Bulgaria, within which the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences awarded him the Dr. Honoris Causa title. President Rosen Plevneliev congratulated Gjorge Ivanov on his considerable academic achievement and hoped that it would lay the foundation of a stable scientific cooperation between Bulgaria and Macedonia.