The Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, met in the morning, at Megaros Maximos, with his Bulgarian counterpart, Nikolai Denkov.

“Today is the anniversary of the Restoration of our Republic, we hope that next year there will be a big celebration. But it also coincides with difficult days due to the forest fires. Thank you again. You have always been very willing to offer your help and we greatly appreciate all the international assistance that has been offered to Greece. These are the consequences, unfortunately, the real consequences of climate change. We have another tough summer ahead of us, but we will do our best. Again, many thanks to all our friends”, said the Prime Minister welcoming his Bulgarian counterpart.

“Mr. Prime Minister, it is my pleasure to welcome you to Athens today. As I said, it is an important, a symbolic day, as we celebrate the 49th anniversary of the Restoration of our Republic in 1974. It is also a difficult day because of the fires that have been affecting Greece in recent days. We thank you again for your generous help and we also thank all the countries that have offered to help us during these difficult days,” Mr. Mitsotakis said in the joint statements of the two leaders after their meeting.

“We highly appreciate your support and, once again, it is proof of the excellent level of our bilateral relations. But we have many issues to discuss. We consider Bulgaria a strategic partner of Greece. We have many issues on which we can cooperate and I am sure that we will discuss them in much more detail, starting with our European agenda and continuing with our cooperation in energy, infrastructure, transport,” continued the Prime Minister.

He added: “As you know, Bulgaria is a very important economic partner for Greece, a big market for our exports, an important destination for Greek foreign direct investment, but also a country with which we feel very close on a cultural level, as we always welcome many visitors to Greece during the summer and we hope that the numbers will increase further this year. It is therefore our pleasure to welcome a friend of Greece”.

“Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister, and I am really glad to be here. Dear ministers, we have a lot of work to do, but fortunately our work is based on a very good foundation, because our relations are really excellent. Of course, we have so many common interests that I believe that in the coming months and years we can make significant steps forward in all the areas you mentioned. You mentioned transport, the energy sector, I could also mention the security efforts in NATO’s eastern flank, which has become important, unfortunately, in the last year,” said the Bulgarian Prime Minister.

He added: “And it is no surprise that we are here with a very strong team, because in all these areas we have specific projects, some of which have already started. Several of these are on the negotiating table and could begin in the coming months. So what I found when I entered the office is that, fortunately, with Greece, there is a very active, not only contact, but very active cooperation in all these areas.

As I said, our relationship is on a very good foundation and we can continue at a very fast pace. So I’m ready to discuss each issue individually, but if you want you can start with your own priorities and then I’ll continue the discussion.”

During the meeting of the two delegations, the prospect of strengthening commercial and economic relations was discussed. They also exchanged views on cooperation in the field of energy, transport and connectivity, as well as ventures of mutual interest.

Issues on the European agenda were also discussed, such as Immigration, as well as Bulgaria’s participation in this year’s Thessaloniki International Exhibition as an honored country.