Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheal Martin (R) spoke at a news conference Thursday following a meeting with Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov (L). Photo by BGNES
Ireland will provide support to Bulgaria in its efforts to gain access to the Cohesion Fund and the structural funds of the EU, the country's foreign minister has said.
"Ireland has experience in the utilization of financing from these funds," Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheal Martin spoke at a news conference Thursday following a meeting with Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov.
Minister Miche?l Martin started on Thursday a two-day visit to Bulgaria and Romania to promote business and trade links.
Following his meetings in Sofia, the minister will travel to Romania to meet with his Romanian counterpart in Bucharest on Friday.
The visits aims to provide an opportunity to reaffirm the close ties that Ireland shares with both Bulgaria and Romania and to mark the 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Ireland and both countries.