President Rumen Radev today held a video conference call with The President of the European Council Charles Michel. Topics from the agenda of the European Union, as well as the upcoming extraordinary meeting of the European Council on 24 and 25 May, at which our country will be represented by the Bulgarian Head of State, were among the highlights of the conversation.

Finland's Prime Minister Sana Marin, Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Lithuania's President Gitanas Nausėda and Malta's Prime Minister Robert Abella took part in the video conference, the Head of State's press secretary said.

The issue of facilitating the free movement of people within the EU, despite the epidemic situation, through the so-called green digital certificate was addressed during the call. President Radev called for the creation of "green corridors" for tourists from European countries, which would greatly help tourism sector, which is among the economic sectors most affected by the crisis.

The Head of State also expressed our country's willingness to donate vaccines to its Western Balkan neighbours and stressed the need for common rules, principles and procedures for such donations to be made.

Rumen Radev also noted that climate-related policies should be sustainable over time and strengthen the energy independence of individual Member States and the EU as a whole. The President highlighted our country's efforts to make the transition to a carbon-neutral economy taking into account social aspects and stressed that it should not lead to a loss of competitiveness of the Bulgarian economy.

"When thinking about the EU's competitiveness, we must not forget that it consists of the competitiveness of each Member State of the Union", Bulgaria’s Head of State also stressed.