Government official holds talks with Bulgarian EU officials

Hungary’s state secretary for European affairs on Wednesday discussed issues concerning the European Union with officials of Bulgaria, the country next in line for the bloc’s rotating presidency.

Speaking to MTI after his talks, Szabolcs Takács said he and his partners — led by Lilyana Pavlova, Bulgaria’s minister in charge of the EU presidency, — had discussed the country’s priorities for the presidency. Takács also briefed his partners on Hungary’s position on various issues.

The state secretary said Pavlova named the progression of the Western Balkan region’s EU integration as one of Bulgaria’s top priorities for its presidency.

Takács said EU enlargement through the integration of the Western Balkans was in the interests of Hungary,

the Visegrád Group as a whole and even Austria, who is scheduled to take over the bloc’s presidency from Bulgaria for the second half of 2018.

Migration was the other main topic discussed at the meeting. Takács noted that Bulgaria was directly affected by the migrant crisis, since it neighbours Turkey.