On 23 and 24 October the Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva was on an official visit to France. A few months ago in June, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov paid a visit to France, and in August French President Emmanuel Macron met for talks in the Bulgarian Black Sea port of Varna with PM Borissov and with President Rumen Radev. In this context both countries view the visit of Minister Zaharieva as a follow-up in this busy high-level dialogue.

Bilateral exchange of visits has intensified in connection with the 2018 Bulgarian Presidency of the EU, and it is not surprising that central to the talks are topics from the agenda of the Union. This observation is valid for the talks that Minister Zaharieva held in Paris.

French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian has told Minister Zaharieva that the Bulgarian EU presidency will be extremely important and France is available for any assistance that Sofia needs. The head of the French diplomacy has vowed in particular that Bulgaria can count on support from Paris for its positions on asylum policy and the need for a clear distinction between refugees and economic migrants. For her part, Minister Zaharieva has made it clear that the EU Presidency of Bulgaria will rely on French support not only in relation to asylum policy but also to the Common Security and Defense Policy. Further Bulgaria will expect support not only in connection with its 2018 EU presidency but also in terms of its aspiration to join the ERM2 mechanism, often called the Eurozone waiting room.

In a meeting of Minister Zaharieva with French Minister of Justice Nicole Belloubet similar positions were expressed on current EU justice issues such as the creation of the European Prosecutor's Office and the idea of ​​the French President that this institution should investigate not only into financial fraud but also into complex cross-border terrorism cases. Closeness of ideas was also seen with regard to the exchange of data by electronic service providers in a bid to combat cybercrime and improve the performance of the European Criminal Records Information Exchange System (ECRIS).

During its rotating EU presidency, Bulgaria will rely on French support for promoting the priority of the Western Balkans’ European integration. In connection with this priority, new developments are expected tomorrow, 26 October, when the EU-Western Balkans Ministerial Meeting on Justice and Home Affairs starts in Sofia. At the forum, the EU will be represented by the EU Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, Věra Jourová, and the Western Balkans – by the Ministers of Justice of Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania.

English Daniela Konstantinova