Bulgaria's PM Sergey Stanishev held his first meeting on Wednesday with the newly appointed head of the European Commission Delegation in Bulgaria Michael Humphreys.

Stanishev and Humphreys discussed the challenges the country will face after its EU accession on January 1, 2007 and issues on the EU agenda.

The European Commission has always been and will be a key partner of Bulgaria.s government even after the country's EU accession, Stanishev said. He pointed out Eurpean integration is one of the top priorities of the PM's cabinet.

For the past years Bulgarian institutions worked hard for the country's upcoming full-fledged membership and the decision of the EU renews our stamina to continue developing in this direction, the PM added.

In response to Stanishev's words, Humphreys said Bulgaria is going in the right direction, despite some minor criticism from EU member states.

PM Stanishev put forward some of the steps the country has taken for the fulfillment of all recommendations the EC has given until the next monitoring report.

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