site.btaForeign Minister: Bulgaria Can Expect to Become Full-Fledged OECD Member within Two-Three Years

Within two to three years Bulgaria can expect to become a full-fledged member of the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Foreign Minister Niokolai Milkov told journalists on Friday, reporting on his tenure. He said that this depends on the political situation in the country.

Six countries have received membership invitations and one of them is Bulgaria, Milkov recalled. According to him Argentina has declined to take steps in connection with its membership because of the economic crisis it is going through and which makes it impossible to commit to OECD policies. 

An interdepartamental coordination mechanism is focusing its efforts on preparing an initial memorandum, which was adopted by the Council of Ministers and submitted to the OECD Secretary General on November 17 2022. According to him, this is a relatively short period, which indicates that all efforts are running on schedule. If efforts continue at the same pace, Bulgaria can expect  full-fledged membership after two-three years.

The memorandum outlines the main tasks in all areas on the road to fulfilling Bulgaria’s membership candidacy and how the country can introduce the OECD standards in the quickest possible way. This is the largest Bulgarian integration effort after the country became a member of the EU and NATO, added Milkov. He said that Bulgaria firmly believes that it has met its commitments with regards to OECD.

On January 25, 2022 the OECD Council adopted a decision to begin accession tales with Bulgaria and the other candidate countries. On June 10 2022 Bulgaria officially received its Roadmap for acceding the OECD, adopted by the OECD Council at the annual ministerial meeting which place in Paris on June 9-10 2022.