President Iliana Yotova also held a series of meetings within the framework of the Munich Security Conference – with Emmanuel Macron, Antonio Costa and Ilham Aliyev.
She also spoke with the High Representative for Gaza Nikolay Mladenov, after which she stated that it is unclear who will represent our country at the meeting of Trump's Peace Council on February 19 in Washington, since on the same date he will most likely issue the decree appointing a caretaker cabinet.
President Iliana Yotova was a guest at the speech of French President Macron, dedicated to the need for Europe to regain its position as a world leader. She commented to the media that Brussels must have an independent defense system.
Iliiana Yotova – President of the Republic of Bulgaria: "It is not about a structure that opposes NATO, but about the European pillar in the Alliance being stronger, much better structured and Europe having its own production."
The President discussed with the High Representative for Gaza Nikolay Mladenov the upcoming February 19 meeting of the Peace Council in Washington. And although the outgoing Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov stated yesterday that Bulgaria will participate in it, Yotova commented that she does not know how the country will be represented.
Iliyana Yotova – President of the Republic of Bulgaria: "You know that on February 19 I will issue the three decrees – on the regions, on the date of the elections and on the caretaker cabinet. That is, neither the National Assembly nor the Presidency, and I don't know what the situation will be in the Council of Ministers, which is in resignation, so I don't really know at what level Bulgaria will be represented at this constituent assembly."
Iliyana Yotova also spoke with the President of the European Council Antonio Costa. The President once again reminded that until the Bulgarians are included in the Constitution of North Macedonia, there will be no progress on its European membership. He also noted the worrying signals that Skopje is trying to find a lobby in Europe to bypass the first cluster of the accession negotiations.
„There is no way Bulgaria will agree to such a change. I hope that by June, when the next EU summit for the Western Balkans is held, a solution will be found to the issue of North Macedonia, if the country still wants to join the union.“
The deepening of energy cooperation between Bulgaria and Azerbaijan and the strategic role of our country as a transit center for gas supplies to Europe were the focus of the President's conversation with Azerbaijani Head of State Ilham Aliyev.
Iliyana Yotova also met with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and the director of the American Jewish Committee Theodore Deutsch.