Bulgaria and Portugal share a common position in the debate on the future of the EU which should reaffirm itself as a community promoting growth, employment, social and economic integration. At a meeting held in Riga Presidents Rumen Radev and Marcelo Rebelo de Suosa held talks within the meeting of the Heads of State of the Arraiolos group. The two noted that overcoming the differences in the development of the “old” and “new” EU member states is an important condition for strengthening the unity of the Union.

Expanding the bilateral cooperation to cope with the problems stemming from migration in the spheres of defense and security, fighting terrorism, the cooperation between the security services and the judiciary, were also among the topics of the talk.

At the invitation of President Rumen Radev, President Marcelo Rebelo de Suosa will visit Bulgaria during the first half of 2019.

Portugal supports Bulgaria’s accession to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, President Marcelo Rebelo de Suosa said and the Bulgarian Head of State voiced his hope that our country will very soon launch negotiations.

Rumen Radev extended gratitude to his Portuguese counterpart for the good attitude to the Bulgarian community in Portugal. About 13,000 Bulgarians live in the country and they are well integrated into Portugal’s economic and cultural life.