“The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry believes that relations with Libya need to be improved and contacts on all levels to become more frequent. In this sense, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Passy's meeting with Libyan counterpart Abdul Rahman Mohammed Shalqum in Libya will be about bilateral relations in general,” Elena Poptodorova, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said. Passy left for Libya late on December 19 and will probably stay in Libya until December 23. Passy is scheduled to meet Zenati Mohammed al-Zenati, People's Congress Secretary General. This will be the first visit of a Bulgarian foreign minister to Libya in the past 11 years. Poptodorova urged the media not to assess the visit solely in the context of the trial against the Bulgarian medics, who were charged with deliberately infecting Libyan children with the HIV virus. The next hearing in the trial will be held on December 22. Lawyers, experts and relatives of the defendants will be travelling to Libya for the December 22 hearing. Passy has requested a meeting with the defendants and is awaiting response from the Libyan authorities. Representatives of the diplomatic missions of EU countries in Libya are expected to attend the hearing. 17 Bulgarian journalists have been issued Libyan visas.

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