Minister Tomáš Petříček and Minister Ekaterina Zacharieva

At the beginning of the visit, the head of Czech diplomacy met with Bulgarian Prime Minister Bojko Borisov, who attended the summit of Friends of Cohesion in Prague on the same day. Subsequently, Minister Petříček in Sofia together with the Bulgarian Minister of Economy Karanikolov opened the Czech-Bulgarian Business Forum. “The Czech Republic is among the ten largest foreign investors in Bulgaria in sectors such as energy, telecommunications, engineering and transport. Over the past five years, our trade has been steadily growing, with a total turnover of 1.5 billion euros last year, ”said Minister Petříček, who was accompanied by a business delegation during his trip.

The main topics discussed with President Radev were bilateral relations, EU and security issues, and relations with Turkey, Russia and China. With the Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zacharieva, the Czech Minister discussed the intensification of bilateral cooperation, a wide range of current European issues including migration, relations with Russia, the Bulgarian candidacy for OECD membership or Visegrad cooperation. “We meet regularly with the Minister at meetings in Brussels and Luxembourg. I am glad that today we could discuss the issues from the EU agenda more deeply. Among other things, we spoke about the priorities of the next EU budget, where it is important to ensure sufficient resources for cohesion and agricultural policy, ”said the Czech Minister after the meeting. Minister Petříček met with Minister of Energy Petkova and exchanged their views on current topics in the energy sector.

At the end of his visit to Bulgaria, the head of the Czech diplomacy greeted the invited guests at the reception organized on the occasion of his visit. Among other things, he mentioned the historical legacy of our ancestors in building the then young Bulgarian state at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and commemorated the upcoming centenary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the then Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria.