Trade between Bulgaria and Hungary could exceed 1 billion euros in 2023, caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikolay Milkov said at a press conference after a meeting with his Hungarian counterpart Péter Szijjártó. This is a very good indicator, the minister added. We agreed that we should continue interaction within the EU and NATO, in order to reach a consensus on all issues, Milkov also said.

Szijjártó pointed out that because of the migrant pressure and the consequences of the sanctions against Russia on the transit of energy supplies to Budapest, cooperation with Bulgaria was important and that Hungary was satisfied with the current bilateral cooperation.

The two ministers also discussed the accelerated acceptance of Bulgaria into Schengen. According to Milkov, the goal can be achieved on October 1st.

At a meeting between Péter Szijjártó and Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, the prospects for increasing the level of diversification by implementing the "Solidarity Ring" (STRING) project initiated by Bulgaria, which allows for the transfer of additional quantities of natural gas to Europe through the existing infrastructure of the Southern Gas Corridor, were discussed.