Baltic States – CIS, EU – Baltic States, Financial Services, Forum, Latvia, Transport

At the meeting of Andris Berzins and Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev. Bratislava, 13.06.2013. Photo: president.lv

Both president also exchanged invitations for mutual visit, and pointed out that relations between Latvia and Bulgaria must be activated on all levels.

At the same time, Berzins also admitted that trade volumes between the two countries in the first quarter of this year was 30 percent higher when compared to the same period last year, which is a very positive trend when looking at economic relations between the two countries.

President Plevneliev, for his part, said that both Latvia and Bulgaria are countries which are well aware of the meaning of transformation processes from one economic system to another, adding that membership in the EU has clearly been a factor which encourages positive development. He said that Bulgaria is a pro-European country, and that it is important to ensure further growth in the direction of the eurozone, as well as to ensure energy independence and a diversification of energy resource delivery routes.

The Bulgarian president also talked about Latvia’s achievements in overcoming the crisis and ensuring various reforms, congratulating Latvia on its movement toward the eurozone and the things which it has achieved. He added that Bulgaria still has homework to do in this regard.

Berzins thanked Plevneliev for his positive assessment of Latvia, adding that Latvia's movement toward the eurozone is largely dictated by economic needs which relate to business processes and expansion in sales markets – something which Latvia and the Baltic States cannot ensure by themselves in terms of successful development of entrepreneurship.

Both heads of state agreed that EU member states must be active individually, bilaterally and multilaterally when it comes to cooperation with other countries so as to find new sales markets and routes of development beyond the EU’s boundaries. They also said that an interconnection corridor between the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea would be very important in terms of rail transport and other circulation of goods, thus making it possible for cooperation with other Eastern Partnership initiative countries which are not EU member states.

“We must look for ways of finding long-term and sustainable development solutions so as to reach the average level of welfare in the European Union and keep our people form emigrating to other countries,” said President Berzins. “Achieving stability alone will not resolve this matter. This is a decisive period of time – one during which we must be open, exchange information, take practical steps, and strengthen the system which we have joined.”