“My ambition for Bulgaria is for it to be a regional innovation leader. For the first time in the strategic partnerships with the United States and the United Kingdom, we have clearly distinguished cooperation in the field of innovation,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Maria Gabriel in the Brussels 1 studio.
“For the first time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has such a mobile application – it is called “Travel Informed”. It is also very important that there is an SOS button, which allows the person to be located very quickly in an unforeseen situation. The mobile application is the only one in Europe, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is with ChatBoth,” commented Gabriel.
According to her, no matter how much we pay attention to digital skills, we should not forget the basic ones.
“Just a week ago, we held our first ever open day for students. Hundreds of young people came,” the deputy prime minister said on air Bulgaria ON AIR.
When asked if Bulgaria has anything to do in order to be approved by Austria and the Netherlands for Schengen, she answered that by the end of December there will be a decision on whether we will be accepted.
“From day one we have very clear arguments that are supported by facts. I prepared a two-page document showing all the results, it was sent to all the EU ambassadors,” Gabriel pointed out.
According to her, Bulgaria needs a foreign policy strategy.
“In the first conference, we very clearly said that Bulgaria has a strong ambition for two things – to be a factor of stability in Southeast Europe and a regional innovation leader. The second conference will be with young people – I want to hear their voice. The third will be with international experts “, the foreign minister explained.
According to her, the stability of the government depends on the work of the government every day, and the rotation will strengthen the direction in which the country is going. Gabriel believes the debates show political maturity.
“For the last six months, Bulgaria has come out of European and international isolation, speaks with one voice inside the country and outside the country. It very clearly states that we are not only members of the EU and NATO, we are not passive observers of our membership, but we want to be active,” said the Deputy Prime Minister.
To the question of Milena Milotinova, should the MFA not create a legal mechanism for legal support of the Bulgarians in the RSM and Serbia, whose rights are shamefully violated, and the victims themselves encounter difficulties in finding good legal protection, Minister Gabriel explained that the topic does not escape from the attention of the MFA, was also raised during her meeting in Skopje on November 28 with the Bulgarians there.
“We have decided to create such a legal mechanism. It needs to be financially secured. Our compatriots said that they need to know the mechanisms for writing complaints and asserting rights.” She emphasized, however, that in the Program for our traditional communities, there is no submitted project for a platform, for example, which contains information about the steps and how to protect your rights.
“For the year 2023, the budget of this program was BGN 1 million. For next year, our proposal is that the budget for this program be BGN 2 million and 100 thousand,” emphasized Maria Gabriel.
She also pointed out that for the first time this year the Commission for Combating Racism and Intolerance of the Council of Europe reported the problem with the Macedonian Bulgarians and it was also reflected in the EC’s Report on the RSM.
Maria Gabriel also said that after the Serbian ambassador was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs a month ago because of the case of the search in the Bosilegrad KIC and the denial of Edwin Sugarev to the country, the Serbian embassy has not yet provided the requested copies of the court decision for the actions taken by the Serbian police action.
“Unfortunately, no information has been received and this is a worrying trend for us. On the other hand, Bulgaria, apart from bilateral relations, raises the topic in all formats at the EU level – working group, Council. Because Serbia is a candidate for EU membership and it is unacceptable within its status not to comply with its own legislation and that of the EU. And we will continue to speak about this deepening trend,” the foreign minister said.
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2023-12-09 19:15:00
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