President receives the ambassadors of the Visegrad Group countries in Bulgaria

Bulgaria will continue to be a reliable partner in the transit of energy resources to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and in ensuring energy security and stability in the region. This is what Head of State Rumen Radev said at a meeting today at the presidential institution with the heads of the diplomatic missions of the Visegrad Group countries in Bulgaria. Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Bulgaria, Miroslav Toman, Ambassador of the Republic of Poland, Maciej Szymanski, Ambassador of the Slovak Republic, Vasil Grivna, and Ambassador of Hungary Miklos Boros participated in the meeting.

During the meeting, President Radev highlighted the actions taken by this country to restore predictability in the Bulgarian energy sector with the abolition of the so-called energy contribution for the transportation of natural gas through the country. The Head of State also highlighted the efforts made to diversify Bulgaria's natural gas supplies by ensuring access to the liquefied natural gas terminals in Greece and Turkey and the reserved capacities there, as well as to increase the transit capacities of the Bulgarian gas transmission network to our neighbours and the region. In this context, the potential of the Bulgarian Solidarity Ring initiative for cooperation between the gas transmission system operators of Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR to transport additional quantities of natural gas to Europe was also discussed.

In the context of the energy crisis, nuclear energy is becoming essential and both Bulgaria and the Visegrad countries share the position for its recognition as green, which is a necessary condition for ensuring the sustainability of the energy transition process.

The Head of State expressed his appreciation for the support of the Visegrad Four countries for Bulgaria's full membership in Schengen and voiced his position for an even closer partnership in the field of the EU migration policy, which should focus not only on migration flows to Europe, but also on joint work with the countries of origin of the migrants.

The security risks for Europe from the Russian Federation's ongoing war against Ukraine and approaches to tackle its negative social and economic consequences for EU Member States were also discussed during the meeting.

The Visegrad Group was established in 1991 by the presidents of Czechoslovakia and Poland and the prime minister of Hungary. Initially the group was called the "Visegrad Troika," but after the split of Czechoslovakia into two independent states, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, it was renamed the "Visegrad Four". The creation of the format was motivated by the aspirations of the member states for sustainable economic development and increased regional cooperation. Intergovernmental cooperation within the group is coordinated by a Presidency, which is held by each member country on a rotating basis, with a mandate of one year. For the period 1 July 2023 - 30 June 2024. The Czech Republic is holding the Presidency of the Visegrad Group.