Bulgaria highly appreciates Qatar's efforts to de-escalate the conflict in the Middle East and its contribution to the release of the Galaxy Leader crew. This is what President Rumen Radev said during a meeting with the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar, Sultan bin Saad bin Sultan Al Muraikhi, who is visiting Bulgaria. Qatar's Ambassador to our country, H.E. Fahad Al Mushairi, also took part in the meeting.

The Head of State highly appreciated Qatar's consistent efforts to put an end to the hostilities in the Middle East and the subsequent finding of a sustainable peaceful solution through diplomacy. In this context, Rumen Radev expressed his gratitude for the commitment of the Qatari side and the Emir of Qatar personally for the release of the crew on board the Galaxy Leader ship, which included two Bulgarian citizens, as well as for the release of two Bulgarian hostages held by Hamas.

This year marks the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Bulgaria and Qatar, which is a prerequisite for the two countries to unite their efforts to exploit the full potential of bilateral cooperation, was the common position during the talks. For Bulgaria, Qatar is a key partner in the Middle East and our country seeks to broaden the bilateral political dialogue by deepening the sectoral cooperation and business ties in order to achieve more concrete results, the President pointed out, emphasising the significant potential for the implementation of Qatari investments in Bulgaria, as well as for the establishment of joint production in a number of fields. Among the areas with a high potential for cooperation between Bulgaria and Qatar are energy, economy, high technologies, innovation and education, security, transport and tourism.