Serbian PM Ivica Dacic (l) and Bulgarian PM Plamen Oresharski (r) during their meeting in Sofia. Photo by BGNES
The Prime Ministers of Bulgaria and Serbia, Plamen Oresharski and Ivica Dacic met in Sofia on Wednesday morning.
Their main topic of discussion was the South Stream gas pipeline, which is set to pass through both Balkan countries.
Last week, the European Commission advised Bulgaria and other countries participating in South Stream to re-negotiate their agreements with the Russian side.
"As far as the European requirements regarding South Stream, we will try to comply with them maximally after we hold talks", stressed Oresharski.
His Serbian counterpart was more firm, stating that the project is of crucial importance to his country and should go through under any circumstance.
"Serbia has a huge interest in seeing this project realized, since we cannot be left to depend on a single gas supplier, which is currently Ukraine. We had winters with heating shortages as a result of this monopoly", said Ivica Dacic.
He added that the South Stream project will boost his country's economy, besides making it more energy sufficient.
Both Prime Ministers agreed that the best scenario would be for Brussels and Moscow to reach a compromise on the project as soon as possible, in order for its construction to proceed.