Asked to comment on the Black Sea maritime border dispute between Bulgaria and Romania, President Rosen Plevneliev has expressed confidence that the problem will be solved by April 15 "in a reasonable European manner".

Bulgaria's head of state reminded that Bulgaria and Romania had signed documents for the lack of any land disputes between the two countries prior to their EU accession in 2007.

"Romania is obviously seeking a quick solution to a problem that is not put on the table as a territorial claim. Romania's Foreign Minister is talking about an "unresolved problem", not about a territorial problem," Plevneliev said in an interview on Thursday, as cited by Sega daily.

"Problems of that sort that have been in existence for 20 years are not territorial claims and cannot be resolved through interviews. There is a specific format, there is an intergovernmental commission and it will surely do its job," the Bulgarian President added, praising the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry for its immediate reaction to the problem.

"We are good neighbors with Romania and this will be confirmed through the actions on such issues of that sort that surface," Bulgaria's head of state noted.

Meanwhile, Romanian news agency Mediafax came up with a publication stating that the disputed area on the Romanian-Bulgarian border was located on the route of the future South Stream gas pipeline.

The news portal announced that if the argument was decided in favor of Romania, the country would get a direct border of 50 linear meters with the continental plateau of Turkey.

Diplomatic sources cited by Mediafax argued that the step would benefit Romania by allowing it to establish a direct link with Turkey in case the rival EU-backed Nabucco gas pipeline got completed.

The Romanian news outlet noted that Bulgaria had already started talks with Exxon about awarding an oil and gas concession for the disputed area.

Mediafax also reported about Romania's plans to start talks with Bulgaria on the recalculation of the Danube border, basing its demand on the natural erosion of the Bulgarian bank.

On Tuesday evening, Romanian Foreign Minister Cristian Diaconescu brought up the issue of the disputed territory of 17 square kilometers in an interview for a local TV station.

He also mentioned that the situation of the Romanian minority in Bulgaria had to be discussed.

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