Bulgaria Reaffirms Support for Georgia’s EU, NATO Membership Bids

Bulgaria reaffirmed on Monday its support for Georgia's territorial integrity and sovereignty as well as the country’s aspirations to join the EU and NATO.

The government in Sofia is ready to render methodological and logistical support to Georgia on the path to the country’s integration into the EU and NATO, Bulgaria’s Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov has said during a meeting with his Georgian counterpart Giorgi Kvirikashvili in Sofia on Monday.

Kvirikashvili is in Sofia in the framework of an official visit of Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili to Bulgaria.

Mitov and Kvirikashvili “discussed the excellent bilateral political, economic and military cooperation between Bulgaria and Georgia in the context of the current complex political situation in the Middle East and Black Sea region,” the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry said in a news release.

Kvirikashvili said that his country expects support from Bulgaria for the liberalization of EU visa requirements for Georgian citizens, which according to him, his country has met in full.

Mitov and Kvirikashvili also discussed cooperation between Bulgaria and Georgia in transport, energy and infrastructure projects. They highlighted the importance of the two countries as transit routes of gas links between Europe and Asia as well as the contribution of Black Sea transport corridors Poti-Burgas and Varna-Poti to the connectivity between the two continents.

The leaders of NATO member states agreed in 2008 that Georgia will become a member of the military alliance if it meets all necessary requirements. The decision was reconfirmed at NATO summits in 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2014.

Georgia signed an association agreement with the European Union in June 2014. The document envisages Georgia’s entering the EU free trade zone.