Bulgaria’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Rumiana Jeleva, met Friday with the diplomatic corps to outline the priorities in the country’s foreign policy.

During the meeting, held in the resort town of Velingrad, Jeleva informed the European Commission is in the process of preparing a new regulation that will allow Bulgaria and Romania an extension of the period they previously had to absorb all the Schengen funds in preparation for entering the Schnegen zone.

Jeleva said, quote: "Bulgaria has a small problem with the Schengen funds absorption" and asked Brussels for a four month extension beyond the 2009 deadline. After the EC, the new regulation must be approved by the European Parliament and the Council of Europe. Jeleva pointed out that during the official visit of Bulgarian Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, to Paris, the French President, Nikolas Sarkozy, had made the commitment to support Bulgaria in this request.

Another priority, outlined by the Foreign Minister, is the elimination of Canadian and US visas for Bulgarians. Jeleva said this act would become a symbol of the transatlantic partnership between the three countries, adding she hoped to visit the US by the end of the year and meet with US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, to discuss the issue. The Minister pointed out the need to also have meetings with the members of the US Congress in order to change American visa regulations.

"A country can be taken off the US visa regime if the percentage of denied visas is less than 3% while in Bulgaria it is currently 13%," Jeleva said, explaining the 3% is a very low threshold and must be changed. The other condition is ID papers with biometric data, something Bulgaria hopes to fulfill soon. The Foreign Minister pointed out the effort towards visas' elimination would be more successful if it is executed jointly with other countries, whose citizens cannot travel freely to the US, such as Greece, Romania, and Poland.

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