advertisement
Sat, Feb 11 2012
Don’t liken us to Greece and Romania, Bulgarian PM asks Merkel
Photo: government.bg
Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borissov and German chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on January 25 2010.
Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borissov and German chancellor Angela Merkel agreed at a meeting in Berlin on January 25 2010 that Bulgaria should be assessed on its own merits and not likened to its neighbouring European Union member states Greece and Romania.
This was in the context of Bulgaria’s aspirations to join the euro zone, a matter which Merkel underlined would be evaluated by the European Commission and European Central Bank and not by individual member states. Bulgaria would get a fair assessment, on an individual basis, on this issue and on its bid to join the Schengen visa zone, Merkel said.
It would not be fair for groups of states to be considered as a whole, Merkel said.
Of late, there has been controversy around Greece because it is running a deficit significantly in excess of euro zone rules.
She promised that Germany would continue its intensive support for Bulgaria to deal with corruption and organised crime. Borissov said that his Government would work to justify the support given by Germany in this effort.
More intensive economic co-operation was possible, and the two countries had an overlap in European energy policy, Merkel said.
However, Merkel said that for confidence and co-operation to develop, there had to be trust in licensing procedures and in the judiciary.
The two heads of government also discussed Afghanistan. Injured Bulgarian military personnel were to be transferred for treatment in Germany after being wounded in a missile attack on a Nato base in Kandahar on January 24 2010.
Merkel said that the situation in Afghanistan remained dangerous. Referring to a forthcoming conference in London on the security situation, Merkel said success would be possible only through working with the Afghanistan government.
Borissov's agenda also includes meetings with bundestag president Norbert Lammert, Berlin mayor Norbert Lammert and Berlin mayor Klaus Wowereit.
Borissov is accompanied by Interior Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov, Economy, Energy and Tourism Minister Traicho Traikov and Regional Development and Public Works Minister Rossen Plevneliev.
On January 24, Borissov met representatives of the Bulgarian community and students living in Berlin.
Bulgarian National Television (BNT) said that in Germany, prejudices about Bulgaria had "not quite disappeared" and Bulgaria was seen as the European Union’s poorest and most corrupt country.
German newspaper Handelsblatt had said that in Bulgaria, organised crime was omnipresent.
The visit was a chance for Borissov to clear away these negative stereotypes, BNT said.
The fight against organised crime would be on the agenda for talks, and Bulgaria would be seeking support for its accession to the Schengen zone, according to BNT.
This was in the context of Bulgaria’s aspirations to join the euro zone, a matter which Merkel underlined would be evaluated by the European Commission and European Central Bank and not by individual member states. Bulgaria would get a fair assessment, on an individual basis, on this issue and on its bid to join the Schengen visa zone, Merkel said.
It would not be fair for groups of states to be considered as a whole, Merkel said.
Of late, there has been controversy around Greece because it is running a deficit significantly in excess of euro zone rules.
She promised that Germany would continue its intensive support for Bulgaria to deal with corruption and organised crime. Borissov said that his Government would work to justify the support given by Germany in this effort.
More intensive economic co-operation was possible, and the two countries had an overlap in European energy policy, Merkel said.
However, Merkel said that for confidence and co-operation to develop, there had to be trust in licensing procedures and in the judiciary.
The two heads of government also discussed Afghanistan. Injured Bulgarian military personnel were to be transferred for treatment in Germany after being wounded in a missile attack on a Nato base in Kandahar on January 24 2010.
Merkel said that the situation in Afghanistan remained dangerous. Referring to a forthcoming conference in London on the security situation, Merkel said success would be possible only through working with the Afghanistan government.
Borissov's agenda also includes meetings with bundestag president Norbert Lammert, Berlin mayor Norbert Lammert and Berlin mayor Klaus Wowereit.
Borissov is accompanied by Interior Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov, Economy, Energy and Tourism Minister Traicho Traikov and Regional Development and Public Works Minister Rossen Plevneliev.
On January 24, Borissov met representatives of the Bulgarian community and students living in Berlin.
Bulgarian National Television (BNT) said that in Germany, prejudices about Bulgaria had "not quite disappeared" and Bulgaria was seen as the European Union’s poorest and most corrupt country.
German newspaper Handelsblatt had said that in Bulgaria, organised crime was omnipresent.
The visit was a chance for Borissov to clear away these negative stereotypes, BNT said.
The fight against organised crime would be on the agenda for talks, and Bulgaria would be seeking support for its accession to the Schengen zone, according to BNT.
-
Print
-
Send via email
- Translate to
-
Share:
Comments
To post comments, please, Login or Register.
Please read the The Sofia Echo forum comments policy.
Bulgarian President, Prime Minister meet Berlin mayor
Relations between Berlin and Sofia to continue to strengthen through new joint projects, Wowereit tells Bulgaria's senior politicians.
Minister: 50km of motorways will be constructed in 2010
Rossen Plevneliev: The winning bid for Lot 2 of Trakiya motorway will be announced by the end of January
Holiday season tourism to and from Bulgaria declines on all fronts
Fewer foreigners came to Bulgaria and fewer Bulgarians travelled abroad.
Brussels pronounces judgments on EU states’ deficits
European Commission concludes Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Malta have taken effective action to correct their budget deficits; extends deadlines for Lithuania and Malta.
Bulgaria's Golden Sands resort suffers 10M leva drop in profits
Experts believe that the outlook for this year could be even worse than 2009, itself a bad 12 months for tourism
US medics fight to save Bulgarian soldier
Alexandrov is undergoing surgery in the military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany
Mixed reactions to Van Rompuy, Ashton taking EU top jobs
Welcomed by the UK government, France and Germany, as well as the US, the naming of Belgium’s Herman van Rompuy as European Council President and Catherine Ashton as foreign policy chief has caused misgivings in some circles, including Turkey which believes that Van Rompuy will oppose Turkish membership of the bloc.
Talking Turkey
Awaiting the European Commission’s judgment on its progress in meeting EU membership criteria, Turkey has new opportunities in foreign relations with two of its neighbours. But the road will not be easy, and hard talk lies ahead
Obama congratulates Borissov, ‘looks forward to meeting soon’
US president underscores commitment of US to partnership with Bulgaria; Borissov also receives congratulations from Turkish counterpart, German chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian PM Vladimir Putin.
More in this category
Bulgaria, Romania lambast Dutch anti-immigration website
Foreign ministries criticise website that calls on visitors to lodge complaints against immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe.
European Commission meets target for recruiting Bulgarians, Romanians
‘I am delighted we managed to identify and attract some of the brightest and best people from Bulgaria and Romania to come and work at the European Commission,’ EC Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič said.
Cold spell should ease its grip on Europe next week, World Meteorological Organisation says
The current ‘negative Arctic Oscillation’ – a weather phenomenon which leads to cold conditions in Europe and relatively warmer conditions in the Arctic – should shift into a more neutral pattern within the next two to three weeks.
Cold snap hits Europe; thaw a threat
The extreme cold has been blamed for almost 400 deaths across Europe. In Ukraine, where temperatures have fallen below minus 30 degrees Celsius, the cold is blamed for at least 122 deaths. Many of the victims were homeless.
Bulgaria among EU’s lowest government debt-to-GDP ratios – Eurostat
At the end of Q3 2011, the highest government debt to GDP ratio was in Greece, at 159.1 per cent.
© 2000-2012, Sofia Echo Media Ltd.
Web Design by RIZN
Sofia Echo Media is part of the Economedia Group.
The news and information content on this website is provided by our editorial team and is copyrighted.
Any unauthorised reproduction or use of it is strictly forbidden. Reproduction of this website's content is permitted only
with prior written permission from the Editor-in-Chief, should be propertly acredited and provide an active link back to our site.
Comments posted by the website's visitors are independent of the editorial materials and do not represent the views of sofiaecho.com.
Sofia Echo Media cannot be held responsible for the statements contained in visitor comments.
The percentаge change in the shares' prices are based on the price of the last transaction of the current session compared to the
price of the last transaction of the previous session. Bulgarian Stock Exchange data is not real-time, but updated every 15 minutes,
and should not be used as a basis for decisions about buying or selling stock options.
- Economedia Group portfolio:
- In Bulgarian:
-
Business:
Капитал,
Кариери,
Пазари,
Ho Re Mag,
Регал,
Градът.bg,
Одит,
Foton.bg,
Online shop
- News: Дневник, Европа, Foreign Policy - България
- IT: IDG.BG, Computerworld, PC World, CIO, Networkworld
- Entertainment: Бакхус
-
In English:
The Sofia Echo
This comment has been removed by the moderator because it contained foul, abusive or discriminating language
This comment has been removed by the moderator because it contained foul, abusive or discriminating language
This comment has been removed by the moderator because it contained foul, abusive or discriminating language
This comment has been removed by the moderator because it contained foul, abusive or discriminating language
This comment has been removed by the moderator because it contained Обиди, дискриминация, срещу журналисти
This comment has been removed by the moderator because it contained Обиди, дискриминация, срещу журналисти
I completely support WOI.
There was nothing anti journalist in his/hers post. The fact is that the headline seems to be a "paraphrasing" as opposed to quoting, and that is certainly done with the goal of attracting attention. The article goes on to quote Boyko in saying that "Bulgaria should be assessed on its own merits and not likened to its neighbouring European Union member states Greece and Romania." which would hardly draw much disagreement from any Romanians or Greeks.
Nobody likes to be lumped.
The problem with attention seeking headlines is [...]
Read the full comment that they also inflame. You can read below people bringing up "kidney trafficking" for God's sake, and I am convinced it can be traced directly to the inflammatory nature of the headline.
I have been interviewed and paraphrased and know first hand how harmful it can be...
This comment has been removed by the moderator because it contained Обиди, дискриминация, срещу журналисти
For now, both Romania and Bulgaria should be likened to Siberia, deep freeze and cold, outside and inside. Have fun and don't drink too much!
"I prefer leaving in a country,with rioters,farmers demanding their rights.."
Well then, we have something in common - I too prefer that you live in your country;) Riot away;)
BTW as far as Greeks, all I know, is that if I should drop my keys in front of any of you guys, I'd kick them all the way home;) You can never be too careful;)
Valeri no offence,but Borrisov acts very redicilus..As for Bulgaria i will say just this.I prefer leaving in a country,with rioters,farmers demanding their rights(this doesnt mean that i agree with the ok?)in a country with big debth(who doesnt??I mean look at Italy,Spain,UK,Japan USA are you blind or something??)than living in country that from the one side is trying hard to show a progress outside,meaning budget surplus(LOL!!)as you said!!while to do this,the sallaries continue to stay in the levels of 150-200 euros,while a big parto of the population of this country is looking for jobs in the neighbooring future "banckrupted"or whatever makes [...]
Read the full comment you people happy country,and while at the same time this country IS a member of the union and takes a lot of money from it.I mean who are you joking you or me?No offence but the day we ll end up like Bulgaria(and i live next to you i know perfectly what i mean)will be the day that we will say:We are Bancrupted.And i have nothing against the Bulgarians(i know may of you in the reall life we have 2 in our companie)but to hear this kind of @#@$ i mean..MERCY!!!
Hahah,
you are right, there is no comparison.
Greece is on EU life support, and all they can think of is block some border or thrash their cities by rioting.
BG has a budget surplus. It's very funny, you are right;)
Ok is this serius??He actually made a comparison of Bulgaria with Greece??Or even Romania?I mean are you people serius??Whats else are we going to hear im wondering some times..MERCY!!!
daniel:
"... when they came out the car was gone,stolen in mater of 40-50 minutes.and many more awfull stories with kidney trafiking etc."
They lost a kidney too? Man, some incompetent crooks - 50 min to steal a car ... talking about "low productivity" here...
How long did it take them to steal the kidney?
WOI:
"He did not claim that Bulgaria was superior to its neighbors, just that it was more fiscally conservative and should be allowed to join the ERM2."
That's exactly right. Leave it to our Balkan insecurity complexes to read any superiority in his statement, and completely omit the "in the euro-zone context" bit. Half of the article and his conversation in Germany, was about BG's other problems, so no, this is no superiority issue, just better managements...
Nico, your country is the EU's poster boy for mismanagement, especially [...]
Read the full comment considering how long Greece has been in the EU... Epami said it right.
I am a computer/communications professional.
I left New York City and lived in Bulgaria for over 2 years working for a mobile communications company.
Bulgarians are the most decent, honest, and honorable people and I have travelled the world.
Crime is in every country, and Bulgaria is no exception.
I still miss Bulgaria.
Jay
This comment has been removed by the moderator because it contained Обиди, дискриминация, срещу журналисти
hello.u can compare Greece with Bulgaria?i dont think so.neither with Romania you cant compare Bulgaria.
i live in romania and a month ago some friends went in bulgaria for the holidays.there in one day they went to have lunch at a local restaurant wich was in town not outside it, with their personal car an AUDI A4.when they came out the car was gone,stolen in mater of 40-50 minutes.and many more awfull stories with kidney trafiking etc.
I think that the presomptuous bulgarian prime minister should reassess his status of his country.a country wich is embeded in organized crime...for ex the case of the bulgarian commissary in the EU commission.
[...]
Read the full comment />
They want not to be compared with other poor EU country well who are they a rich flourishing nation?I think not.So stop being so hypocrite!
Hahaha. That bodyguard-prime-minister of yours is a very funny character.
And i totally support that assertion. I live in Romania and i think there is no term of comparison. Our countries play in different leagues :))))
"there had to be trust in licensing procedures" - sounds like Angie was referring to Dundee resources.
At least, Nico, the gangsters aren't actually in the government, as they are in Greece !
Since "Super Boijko" promised on Jan 18th to arrest the country's 300 most notorious gangsters within 12 months (http://sofiaecho.com/2010/01/22/845852_bulgarias-3