Bulgaria, Israel to Join Forces on Mediterranean Gas Deposits

Business » ENERGY | March 2, 2012, Friday // 15:17
Bulgaria: Bulgaria, Israel to Join Forces on Mediterranean Gas Deposits Israel's Foreign Minister Lieberman (left) and Bulgarian Foreign Minister Mladenov (right) at their joint news conference in Sofia Friday. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria and Israel are considering a new field of cooperation – gas supplies from the newly-found natural gas deposits in the Eastern Mediterranean, Bulgaria's Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov indicated after meeting with his Israeli counterpart Avigdor Lieberman in Sofia.

"In addition to the other fields of cooperation between Bulgaria and Israel, the development of the new natural gas deposits located in the Eastern Mediterranean is of great importance for our country since they could be an alternative source of energy supplies for Bulgaria," Mladenov explained during his joint news conference with Lieberman.

"These deposits are a real alternative source of energy supplies for a country such as Bulgaria, and we are interested in their development," the Bulgarian Foreign Minister added.

He explained that his meeting with the Israeli Foreign Minister focused on discussing the results of the first ever joint sitting of the Cabinets of Bulgaria and Israel, which took place in July 2011.

Mladenov pointed out that Bulgaria deems important its cooperation with Israel in the fields of transport, IT, culture and education, film, and healthcare; new opportunities for cooperation being discussed include crisis and disaster response.

The Bulgarian top diplomat reminded that Bulgaria was the first state to send fire-fighters to help tackle the fires in Northern Israel in 2010, and Israel has been the first nation to offer relief aid to Bulgaria during its recent floods.

"Based on that we believe that the two countries can initiate a dialogue with neighboring states in which we can help one another in such situations," he said.

"Bulgaria and Israel enjoy a friendship that has been bringing the two nations together for years. We share common values regarding peace and development, and are seeking mutually beneficial opportunities for economic, social, and cultural cooperation," Mladenov noted further.

His counterpart Lieberman has also evaluated highly the bilateral economic ties, stressing that they are better then ever.

He said he hoped Bulgaria's new President Rosen Plevneliev would visit Israel soon, and thanked Bulgaria for supporting Israel after the recent targeting of the Israeli Embassies in Tbilisi and New Delhi.

Lieberman also supported Mladenov's idea for the formation of regional disaster response forces.

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Tags: Israel, Avigdor Lieberman, Nikolay Mladenov, Foreign Minister, Middle East, Palestine, Palestinian Authority, natural gas, gas supplies, gas deposit, Eastern Mediterranean

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