Restoring a positive image of Bulgaria and placing the country at the core of European politics are among its key foreign policy priorities, Foreign Minister and candidate European Commissioner Roumyana Zheleva told a gathering of foreign diplomats on October 16 2009.
 
More than 70 diplomats, including heads of mission of foreign embassies and multilateral organisations, attended the briefing, held in the spa resort town of Velingrad.
 
In the context of striving to restore Bulgaria’s access to European Union financial instruments, Zheleva sought to assure the foreign envoys of Prime Minister Boiko Borissov’s Government’s determination to reform the judiciary and to fight organised crime and corruption, including at top level.
 
There were signs that Bulgaria’s international partners were restoring their confidence in Bulgaria, she said.
 
Key issues for the future were the Lisbon Treaty, Bulgaria’s accession to the EU’s Schengen visa zone, the drafting of a new national strategy for Bulgaria to relinquish its national currency, the lev, to adopt the euro and the need to develop a common EU energy policy in the context of the upcoming Copenhagen conference on climate change, to be held in December 2009.
 
Zheleva said that the time had come for a pro-active EU role in strengthening TransAtlantic dialogue.
 
On Bulgaria’s relations with the countries of the Balkans and Black Sea region, Zheleva said that the challenge facing Bulgarian diplomacy was to deal with traditional relationships and priorities in a new framework, meaning a more active European and Euro-Atlantic presence.
 
Bulgaria wanted to strengthen its role in the global economy, including the preparation of a legal basis for its policy on assistance to the developing world, Zheleva said.

She said that the Foreign Ministry was working on developing structures to assist Bulgarians abroad during times of crisis
 
Bulgaria would also be reviewing its Foreign Ministry management structure and representation abroad so that the necessary changes could be made to build a professional and competent diplomatic service for the country, Zheleva said.