Bulgaria’s caretaker Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov has met with his Turkish and Macedonian counterparts during the General Debate at the 69th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Mitov met his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu on September 24, according to the press office of Bulgaria’s Foreign Ministry.

The two discussed opportunities for developing cooperation between Bulgaria and Turkey through the existing mechanisms in a bid to achieve the full potential of bilateral relations.

Mitov emphasized the importance of joint projects, especially in the sphere of energy supplies, citing the Bulgaria-Turkey gas grid interconnection as an example.

He noted that the 30km fence on the Bulgarian-Turkish border was a temporary solution and was not to be interpreted as a factor having a negative influence on bilateral relations but as part of the efforts of the Bulgarian government to deal with the impact of migratory pressure.

Mitov drew attention to the need to sign an agreement on trilateral border control between Greece, Turkey, and Bulgaria.

Cavusoglu vowed to help achieve more active contacts between the competent authorities in Bulgaria and Turkey as regards joint efforts to manage increasing migration flows on the territory of the two countries.

Mitov and Cavusoglu also discussed issues related to the situation in Syria and Iraq and they expressed firm support for the international efforts to counteract terrorism and the terrorist organization known as the Islamic State in particular.

On September 24, Mitov also met with his Macedonian counterpart Nikola Poposki.

The two discussed bilateral cooperation and Macedonia’s European and Euro-Atlantic prospects.

Mitov and Poposki exchanged views on the plans to extend expert talks on the Good Neighbourhood and Co-operation Pact, with the next meeting of the working groups from the Bulgarian and Macedonian foreign ministries is to be held in the autumn of 2014.

The two foreign ministers described as a positive step the joint letter of the foreign ministers of Bulgaria and Macedonia from February 19, 2014 to EU Commissioners Stefan Fule and Johannes Hahn on the opportunities for financing the construction of transport corridor #8, stressing the bilateral, regional and pan-European significance of the project.