Foreign Minister Ditmir Bushati paid a visit to Bulgaria, where he met with Foreign Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria Daniel Mitov and Speaker of Parliament Tsetska Tsacheva.

The two foreign ministers praised the excellent relations between the two countries and expressed their common will to take them to a higher level and boost cooperation, particularly in the fields of transport and energy, but also culture and tourism. 

They appreciated the close ties and intensive political dialogue, considering them as extremely important not only for relations between our two countries, but also for the region. Discussions focused on developments in the region, security challenges, cooperation in the framework of regional initiatives as well as the advancement in Euro-Atlantic integration processes. In this context, Minister Bushati thanked his Bulgarian counterpart for Bulgaria's continued support to the EU integration process of Albania.
 
Furthermore, dwelling on cooperation in the field of energy, both ministers underlined the importance of energy interconnection between Albania and Bulgaria through Macedonia, thus enabling the future integration of the region's electrical networks with those of the EU.

With regard to the latest developments in Macedonia, Minister Bushati stated that "“Albania and Bulgaria have the same assessment of the rule-of-law crisis in Macedonia. We are both concerned by the latest attempts to reduce and degrade the democratic stability of the country. We have a shared interest in a peaceful, multi-ethnic, stable, democratic Macedonia, which can go forward in the euro-Atlantic integration processes. Therefore, we fully support the approach of EU, US and Germany and their efforts to facilitate the necessary political dialogue that is needed to get out of this crisis."

At the end of the meeting, Ministers Bushati and Mitov signed a Memorandum of Cooperation in the Field of European Integration between the two countries.

During the meeting with Speaker of Parliament Tsetska Tsacheva, interlocutors discussed bilateral cooperation, Albania's European path, regional developments, common security challenges and ways of coping with them. Parties commended the importance of the cooperation dimension and parliamentary exchanges in the context of boosting bilateral relations.