Foreign Minister Svetlan Stoev and Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba discussed traditionally good and friendly relations between Bulgaria and Ukraine, the possibility of deepening them, including in the context of the Bulgarian ethnic community in the country, the Foreign Ministry’s press center reported.
Minister Stoev stressed that for Bulgaria, the 200,000-strong Bulgarian community in Ukraine is a natural bridge of friendship between the two countries, and thanked for the preservation in 2020 of the Bolgrad district of Odessa region as an independent territorial unit with the administrative center of Bolgrad. In this context, the Bulgarian Minister noted that Bulgaria will soon be glad to receive an official response to its expectation of the opening of a consulate in Bulgaria, which will facilitate communication between our compatriots and Bulgaria.
During the conversation, as a sign of regular support for Ukraine, Bulgaria’s readiness to provide the country with 50,000 doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine was confirmed. So far, Bulgaria has supported Ukraine only with official development assistance through projects worth more than 850,000 euros.
The meeting with Dmytro Kuleba was part of Minister Stoyev’s participation in the first summit of the International Crimean Platform, the purpose of which is to draw attention to the illegal annexation of Crimea and the need to reintegrate the peninsula into Ukraine.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine thanked for the expressed support of the Crimean Platform and the consistent policy of Bulgaria in support of the sovereignty, territorial integrity of Ukraine, the policy of non-recognition of the annexation of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, as well as European and Euro-Atlantic perspective.
Minister Stoev invited Dmitry Kuleb to visit Bulgaria, and they agreed that the visit would be preceded by political consultations between the two countries’ foreign ministries at the level of deputy ministers.