Bulgarian Prime Minister Talks with Italian, Georgian Counterparts

Sofia, May 22 (BTA) - During the Eastern Partnership Summit in
Riga, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov met separately
with his counterparts Matteo Renzi of Italy and Irakli
Garibashvili of Georgia, the Bulgarian government's press office
 said on Friday.

Borissov and Renzi agreed to step up cooperation in dealing with
 the migration pressure. They picked this time to meet because
Renzi will not be available to confer with Borissov during his
May 23-24 visit to Rome.

Both the Mediterranean and the Bulgarian southeastern border are
 put to increased migration pressure and joint efforts is the
only way to handle the surging waves of migrants and crack down
on people smugglers, the two Prime Ministers agreed.

They also discussed two-way trade and the fine cooperation
between the special services of the two countries and the police
 services in fighting organized crime.

The Italian Prime Minister accepted an invitation by his
Bulgarian counterpart to visit Sofia. The visit is likely to
take place right after the Bulgarian visit of the EU High
Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica
 Mogherini.

During the meeting between Borissov and Garibashvili, the
Bulgarian Prime Minister noted his country's traditionally good
relations with Georgia and the potential for their further
promotion both through enhanced contacts between individual
government ministries and through the Bulgaria-Georgia Economic
Commission.

Borissov said Georgia is an important partner in diversifying
the sources and routes of supplying natural gas to Europe, and
to Bulgaria in particular, especially as regards the transit of
gas from Azerbaijan.

Borissov reaffirmed Bulgaria's willingness to share with Georgia
 its expertise in Euro-Atlantic integration and to provide
practical assistance in this field. He urged Georgia to make
full use of its Association Agreement with the EU in order to
increase its closeness with the bloc. Garibashvili thanked
Borissov for the support.

The Bulgarian Prime Minister expressed his conviction that
Bulgaria and Georgia will keep up their fruitful political
dialogue and invited his counterpart to visit Sofia.