Nobody wants a rise of tension, Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva told Bulgarian journalists at the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels on the occasion of the events in the Kerch Strait.

The Council of the EU has called for the immediate release of detained seamen and vessels, as well as for resuming free shipping across the Strait and the Azov Sea. The Deputy Prime Minister pointed out that the Council’s position is that presidential elections in Ukraine next year should not be postponed.

"Bulgaria has called for the start of membership negotiations with the Republic of Macedonia and Albania, but this country has made it clear that signing of the neighborly relations agreement with the Republic of Macedonia was important but more important was its implementation. Bulgaria’s requirement is that all agreed points must be kept,” Deputy Prime Minister Zaharieva added.