The Head of State: Bulgaria will continue to be a reliable partner in the transfer of energy resources to Central and Eastern Europe and for ensuring energy security and stability in the region

Bulgaria will continue to be a reliable partner in the transit of energy resources to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and for ensuring energy security and stability in the region. This was stated by the head of state Rumen Radev at a meeting today in the presidential institution with the heads of the diplomatic missions of the countries of the Visegrad Group in Bulgaria. The ambassador of the Czech Republic to our country Miroslav Toman, the ambassador of the Republic of Poland Maciej Szymanski, the ambassador of the Slovak Republic Vasil Hryvna and the ambassador of Hungary Miklós Boros participated in the meeting.

During the meeting, President Radev highlighted the actions taken by our country to restore predictability in the Bulgarian energy sector with the cancellation of the so-called energy contribution for the transmission of natural gas through the territory of our country. The head of state also emphasized the efforts made to diversify natural gas supplies to Bulgaria through the secured access to the liquefied gas terminals in Greece and Turkey and the reserved capacities there, as well as to increase the possibilities of the Bulgarian gas transmission network for transit to our neighbors and the region. In this connection, the potential of the Bulgarian Solidarity Ring initiative for cooperation between the operators of the gas transmission systems of Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and the state oil company of Azerbaijan SOCAR for the transfer of additional quantities of natural gas to Europe was also discussed.

In the conditions of an energy crisis, nuclear energy acquires essential importance, and both Bulgaria and the countries of the Visegrad Group share the position of recognizing it as green, which is a necessary condition for guaranteeing 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 expressed his position for an even closer partnership in the field of EU migration policy, which should focus not only on migration flows to Europe, but also on joint work with the countries from which the migrants originate.

The security risks to Europe from Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine and approaches to dealing with 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 Triple", and after the division 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 participating countries for sustainable economic development and strengthening of cooperation in the regional plan. Intergovernmental cooperation within the group is coordinated by a Presidency, which is assumed by each member country on a rotating basis, with a mandate of one year. In the period July 1, 2023 - June 30, 2024, the Czech Republic is the chairman of the Visegrad Group.