Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis had a meeting today at the Maximos Palace with the Prime Minister of Bulgaria, Nikolai Denkov. A working lunch followed with the participation of the delegations of the two countries.

During the working lunch, the two leaders proceeded to a comprehensive overview of Greek-Bulgarian relations and the progress of cooperation in a number of areas of mutual interest.

It was agreed to strengthen and accelerate cooperation focusing on interconnectivity in the fields of energy and transport, on the basis of the South-North Vertical Corridor and cooperation in the field of renewable energy sources.

Projects of common interest were also discussed at the highest level last October, during the Tripartite Summit of Greece-Bulgaria-Romania and the signing of a joint Declaration by the leaders of the three countries.

Special emphasis was given in the connection of road and railway networks of Greece-Bulgaria.

On the Greek side, the Minister of National Economy and Finance Kostis Hatzidakis, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Giorgos Gerapetritis, the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Christos Staikouras, the Minister of Environment and Energy Theodoros Skylakakis, the Director of the Diplomatic Office of the Prime Minister Ambassador Anna Maria Boura participated in the working lunch. and the Special Advisor for International Policy and Public Diplomacy to the Prime Minister Aristotelia Pelonis.

At the start of their meeting the two leaders made the following statements:

Kyriakos Mitsotakis: Mr. Prime Minister, welcome. It is always our pleasure to host you in Athens. The first official visit of 2024, I believe, says something about the quality of our bilateral relations. Congratulations on the Schengen Area, you know how much we supported the decision that was finally taken. And we look forward in the full implementation of Schengenincluding land borders, which of course are so important to our bilateral relations and trade.

I look forward to discussing important connectivity projects between Greece and Bulgaria related to transport, energy, telecommunications and to build on the very successful tripartite discussions we had in Euxinograd with our Romanian partners. Again, welcome to Athens.

Nikolai Denkov: It is really a pleasure to be here and to be the first official guest. I heard you have a custom of “footwear”. So I’m glad to be here today. We have excellent strategic relationships in many areas, in transport, in energy, I would also like to mention defense and the defense industry. We have things to discuss here today but there are also opportunities to accelerate and complete some files in the coming months. That is the main goal, to see how we can accelerate this progress and finally get results in the coming months.

I would like, on the occasion of this invitation, to send my greetings to all the citizens of the Hellenic Republic for the new year, for a year full of prosperity and peace. We all hope so. That is why I send my warmest greetings to all the Greek people.

Mitsotakis

Mitsotakis