Doha: Bulgaria’s President Rosen Plevneliev said there are great prospects for further cooperation between his country and Qatar in various fields.
He said his visit to Qatar will contribute to the development of relations. “This cooperation came after an intensive political dialogue through which we worked together to strengthen it, and there is a lot of confidence and good faith for such cooperation, where the political leaderships in both countries have urged its beginning and we look forward to results.”
On issues discussed during the visit, he said: “I have come to Qatar to discuss the prospects and opportunities for cooperation and trade and look forward to working with the Qatari leadership for the development of relations and cooperation in the areas agreed upon”, especially the agriculture and food sectors which offer investment opportunities for both countries.
He stressed that the coming period will witness projects and visits between Qatar and Bulgaria to cooperate in the production of meat and livestock.
“The second area is the energy sector where Bulgaria seeks to diversify its resources by buying gas from Qatar, and we look forward to the involvement of European countries in the project, including Greece, Romania, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.”
He added that cooperation in the field of energy aims to establish a facility of a liquefied natural gas in Greece to facilitate the purchase of gas from Qatar and bringing it to Bulgaria.
Bulgaria can in turn provide assistance to Qatar in the field of solar energy in which, he said, his country has invested heavily in the past three years.
Plevneliev said the third area of cooperation will be the tourism, real estate and infrastructure sectors.
He said Qatari companies expressed willingness to invest in Bulgaria’s real estate sector and a team will visit Bulgaria to explore opportunities.
Cooperation agreements will be signed between Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development and the Bulgarian Science Academy, he said, adding three agreements have been inked during the visit and more will be signed in the coming months.
One agreement was signed between the Qatari and Bulgarian news agencies, another between Bulgarian and Qatari diplomatic institutes and the third is a twinning agreement between the capitals of both countries, opening the way for cultural and economic events.
Plevneliev said more agreements were being drafted, including one between the two ministries of agriculture, one between Bulgarian Science Academy and Qatar Foundation to promote educational cooperation and one on military training.
On Ukraine, the president said: “We are following with great concern what is happening in Ukraine and we believe that the cohesion of the Ukrainian territory must be maintained.”
He expressed concern about actions taken by Russia, hoping that Russian troops would withdraw from the Crimea.
“We hope that Russia refrain from violating international law and the annexation of Crimea”
He said Moscow’s response to the crisis will improve relations between the two sides, and if there is no response, then relations would deteriorate and the European Union would take the appropriate actions, including the imposition of severe sanctions.
He said the EU considers the referendum in the Crimea as “illegal”, and the annexation of Crimea to Russia is illegal and contrary to international laws.
Plevneliev hoped that things would not escalate and all would resort to international law to find a solution.
On the Syrian crisis, he described Bashar Al Assad as “dictator”, and said he was responsible for the war being waged against his people. He said the solution starts by stopping the killing of Syrian people.
“We must remember that Bashar used chemical weapons. He denied possessing them but it turned out that he owned and used them,” he said, adding thanks to international pressure control over these weapons has been maintained.
“The only solution is international pressure until a permanent solution is found, including the stepping down of Al Assad and a free election in which the Syrians will choose their representatives.”
On the Arab Spring, Plevneliev regretted “the transition for Arab winter” as described by some in Europe and hoped that prosperity and stability would prevail in the Middle East.
He also hoped prosperity and unity prevailing in the Balkans would be an example for the Middle East. QNA
