N. KOTZIAS: It is a great pleasure to have Bulgarian Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov here with me today. Despite the age difference, I can say we are friends. So I am honored. So it is with great pleasure that I welcome him to Athens and to the Foreign Ministry, and we will continue our talks at our luncheon and at the dinner this evening.
Greece and Bulgaria are two countries linked by at least 1,600 years of relations, and the culmination of this relationship is the sincere friendship that exists between us today.
Of course, we talked about the Syria crisis and how we can contribute together to its resolution, because that is linked to the main and burning issue of migration and the refugees. We are two refugee gateways, and we agree that the refugee/migration currents should be dealt with before they enter the European Union.
This is not only the most rational approach, but also saves peoples lives: when they are taken care of, registered, in neighbouring countries outside the EU, they are not forced to cross the sea under adverse conditions, and we have seen the anguish of people losing children, children’s bodies and all of this barbarity. We also talked about the need for Jordan and Lebanon to be supported with the camps there, and the need to support the stability of other states, like Tunisia and Egypt.
The second, more basic issue is cooperation in the Balkans, where you can’t have European Balkan policy without the three EU members in the Balkans. We also discussed the need to support Bulgaria’s accession to the Schengen space, which is also, as you know, a matter Romania is dealing with.
What I want to say once again, from Athens, is that we support the accession of the Western Balkans to the European Union, but this has to happen through the cooperation of all of the interested countries with us.
I also want to say that we talked about the development of our political cooperation and our bilateral relations, and we will continue this discussion at the two additional meetings we will be having today. We have special shared interests on energy issues and the vertical corridor, and we are talking about how to ensure and safeguard its creation and operation.
Mr. Mitov was kind enough to brief me on Bulgaria’s SEECP initiatives. You know that it has also already been agreed that the President of the Republic will be visiting Sofia from 14 to 16 December, which is another indication that Bulgaria is our strategic partner. And we are also preparing the G2G meeting in the coming year.
We also talked about the need to manage cross-border issues, and reference was made to water resource management and the creation of new roads and border crossing points. Bulgaria is a wonderful partner for us, and my colleague Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov is an important minister for us, and I welcome him once again. Daniel, welcome to Athens.
D. MITOV: Good morning from me, dear colleagues. Nikos, it is a pleasure and honor for me personally and for all of us, our delegation, to be here, and for me as well to be the first Foreign Minister after the elections on an official visit. It is very symbolic in terms of how important our relations are and how crucial it is for us to talk to each other more often and coordinate our positions, in a very dynamic and complicated geopolitical situation.
I am extremely grateful for your support when it comes to the Bulgarian membership to the Schengen space, and of course we agreed that we need to work together in order to bring our cooperation so close that when it comes to the integration of the western Balkans, when it comes to the future of the Balkans in general, we are the ones to have a very heavy say in those matters.
We need to find future formulas in order for the Balkan countries, members of the European Union, to have more synergy and more close cooperation in order to bring our sensitivities and our interests closer to those of our partners in the European Union.
Of course, the migration crisis and the refugee inflow is one of those topics which right now is on the top of our agendas. Very recently, the Bulgarian Prime Minister sent a letter to all the Prime Ministers and Heads of states in the formats of the European Council, tackling exactly this issue. This letter was discussed in the last European Council and it became somehow part of the basics of what our future approach as the Union needs to be. With Greece we share a lot of those assessments, which are part of the letter.
As the Minister mentioned already, help for Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon, in order to create all those hotspots outside of the borders of the European Union. Reinforce the control of the outer borders of the European Union with common European effort. Fight against human trafficking, which is an ugly, brutal phenomenon, which will continue existing, even if we solve the problem in Syria. Defeating the networks of the criminals who smuggle people is crucial for each and every European country. Close cooperation in that regard needs to be established, together not only with the European Union members, but with the candidate countries as well.
Of course, the key is solving the problem in Syria. We need to find a solution for controlled political transition, a solution which will keep the territorial integrity of Syria and of course a solution which will erase and defeat ISIS. But this could be done only in cooperation with all the countries who desire a stable solution in Syria. Unilateral actions will not be helpful and are not helpful.
So that is why, of course Russia has its role in solving the problem in Syria, but it cannot be done through preconditions related to Bashar al-Assad. The latter has created deep divisions in Syria and deep divisions in the whole Middle East. So we know we need a civilized solution, it is clear that we need to talk to Bashar al-Assad, but the controlled political transition needs to include his exit. However, this is something we hope to achieve in the future.
We spoke a lot about our future G2G meeting, about the interconnection, the energy projects and of course about our regional cooperation in the framework of the South East European Cooperation Project.
Minister, once again, Nikos, our greatest gratitude for receiving us so warmly and we are looking forward to our deep and very, very intensive cooperation, in order to tackle the challenges in front of us.
S. ARAVOPOULOU (Athens News Agency): Good morning. Essentially, the question is for both of you, because it has to do with the pipeline, the energy issues. More information about the talks you had, what phase they’re in. Thank you.
D. MITOV: The interconnection between Greece and Bulgaria is probably the most important link of the European Energy Union, of the future European Energy Union.
We speak about diversification, we speak about interconnectivity. Those are the two key words when it comes to the implementation of the future energy union of the European Union. And Greece is a key partner, a key country when it comes to the diversification of the sources of gas.
We very much count on the south gas corridor and on the future plans for building LNG gas terminals here, and the future construction of the IGB, of the interconnector between Greece and Bulgaria, will ensure the delivery of gas up north through Bulgaria, Romania and so on, and west, through Serbia to western Europe.
The reverse-flow connections will assure the flow towards us of gas coming from other sources, and that will create a real market, gas market, in the European Union, where the prices will go down, because of the competition. And will ensure that Europe will not be, or some of the European Union countries, will not be 100% dependent on one source of gas, as Bulgaria is right now.
Our dialogue and the dialogue between our Ministers of Energy is very productive in that regard, and we hope all the technical details will be clear very, very soon and move on with the construction, with the signature of the final agreements, but what I can say also here is that we would like to see an expanded capacity of our interconnection.
Because what is right now is a good beginning, but we need more; because our region will be strategic for transferring natural resources in the future.
N. KOTZIAS: I agree with Daniel. It is an issue we also talked about in our long meeting in New York. The world is changing. And energy sources are changing. The U.S. has the cheapest natural gas, the Eastern Mediterranean is bringing new gas, we see that a vast reserve was found in Egypt, Kurdistan and Iraq are entering the game. The end of the embargo on Iran will also bring natural gas from there. And this gas can pass through our countries, and that would be good.
It will bring prices down, it will increase our energy security and competitiveness, and this is why Greek-Bulgarian cooperation is fundamental and strategic.
JOURNALIST: Last week, at the Economist Conference in Sofia, Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev stated that the Interconnector Greek Bulgaria is being delayed due to the excessive expectations of Bulgaria. My question is, is Bulgaria prepared to back down on some of its expectations, and which ones?
And a second question, if I may. Did you discuss any more specific measures for the improvement of the joint effort to combat refugee and migrant trafficking networks?
D. MITOV: When it comes to the energy projects, I think I also mentioned something that was mentioned in a different manner by Mr Donchev in this intervention of his. We need interconnection, there is no doubt about that; but we also need to agree how to expand it.
Both Greece and Bulgaria have the interest to receive more natural gas through this interconnection. And we know very well that this will serve not only our interest, but the interest of Europe and the European Union, in order to bring more gas from different sources at different prices. So that is why Deputy Prime Minister Donchev was right to say that we have increased our assessments and our ambitions, and we need more, actually, not less.
We are not giving up this project. We need to realize it, but in different dimensions. Everything has a start, but we need also guarantees that there will be an increase of the quantities. However, it is true that you cannot run without being able to walk. So let’s start with small steps and be sure though that we have agreed on the bigger picture.
When it comes to human trafficking, our Ministries of Interior are in close contact. I know that there is an officer from the Bulgarian Police who comes every single month here in Greece. We are developing and increasing our cooperation in that regard. I can speak about human traffickers being caught on Bulgarian territory and their number is increasing. Bulgaria actually recently changed its legislation and introduced severe penalties for human traffickers. That needs to be done by all the European Union countries. I know Greece has very adequate and adopted legislation in that regard.
ATHANASOPOULOS (To Bima): My question is for both Ministers. I would like your views on the Berlin process for the Western Balkans, and specifically I would like you to tell me whether you believe that it supplants community neighbourhood and enlargement processes and whether you believe that there is discriminatory handling, because some Balkan states that are members of the European Union – like Croatia and Serbia – are participating in this, while others, like Greece, Bulgaria and Romania aren’t. Thank you very much.
N. KOTZIAS: That is also a very interesting question for Mr. Steinmeier, who will be visiting us. I come back from Cyprus on Wednesday, from my official visit, and our good friend the Foreign Minister of Germany will be in Greece on Thursday and Friday. On Friday he will be going to Lesvos.
I must say that the Berlin initiative is an initiative in the context of the historical traditions of Germany and Austria as regards the Balkans. And from that perspective, it also includes Croatia and Slovenia. Two states that often don’t want to be called Balkan, but Southeast European, and with whom we want to cooperate, and we have good cooperation on economic issues.
There are a number of initiatives in Europe regarding the Western Balkans, and in all of these we underscore that there cannot be a Balkan policy without the Balkan EU member states.
I also want to say something historical: that when we talked about a series of European Union Treaties regarding foreign policy, given that the European Union was expanding, there was a thought of special responsibility for EU member states neighbouring on non-members. We aren’t seeking anything along those lines, but neither will we allow the opposite to be the case.
D. MITOV: I can completely agree with Nikos and I will say the following. Of course, when it comes to the integration of the Western Balkans, it is clear that the European Union will never be complete without the Western Balkans to be part of it. But at the same time, the integration of the Western Balkans cannot happen without the participation of the southeastern Balkans.
That is why at the Berlin process we have already several times posed this question to our colleagues participating into the Berlin process, to find the mentality through which to have a cooperation and better understanding about the opinion of the countries on the Balkans, members of the European Union.
N. ZIRGANOS (Editors’ Newspaper): I wanted to ask Mr. Mitov: Bulgaria, a member state of the European union and a country that wants to join Schengen, how does it stand on the fact that Europe is currently bargaining for an almost full liberalization of the visa process for Turkish citizens? Thank you.
D. MITOV: When it comes to our Schengen membership, again I will reiterate our great gratitude towards Greece for the support. We have even launched this idea and it is already widely discussed about different stages of adherence of Bulgaria to the Schengen zone. Which includes first the lifting of the air borders and naval ones, and then of course, in a later stage, the land borders.
When it comes to the negotiations, or not negotiations, but the ideas and the attempts to see whether there could be a certain type of visa liberalization towards Turkey, it comes of course together with our desire to start implementing the readmission agreement with Turkey as soon as possible, sooner than it is envisaged in 2018, if I am not mistaken. But it comes also with the idea that right now the cooperation with Turkey vis-à-vis the migration crisis is extremely important. And of course the European Union has visa liberalized relations with other countries that are not members.
Whether this will happen or not is something that is up for debate inside the European Union, and I wouldn’t predispose now any outcome. But it is clear that we need a dialogue.
N. KOTZIAS: I won’t take up much time. I will agree with my colleague Daniel Mitov. I just want to say that in the European Union every state must negotiate its bilateral relations, but no one can supersede the European institutions when European issues are being discussed. Thank you.
October 21, 2015