site.btaForeign Minister Opens SEECP Regional Cooperation Council Annual Meeting

Foreign Minister Velislava Petrova opened the 18th Annual Meeting of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), which took place on Tuesday in Sofia as part of Bulgaria’s Chairmanship of the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP), the Ministry’s press office announced. The event is held back-to-back with the SEECP Ministers of Foreign Affairs Meeting and the SEECP Summit, scheduled to take place following the RCC Annual Meeting on 10 June, and is part of the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Process’s establishment.

In her welcoming address, Petrova emphasized the importance of the SEECP as a key regional platform for dialogue, trust, and good-neighbourly cooperation in Southeast Europe. She noted that amid growing geopolitical and economic challenges, regional cooperation remains a key instrument for strengthening stability, security, and sustainable development.

Petrova pointed out that Bulgaria has all the prerequisites to position itself as a regional hub of stability, economic competitiveness, and technological development, with a key role in the fields of energy, innovation, and the digital sphere.

In a video address, EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos said that amid growing geopolitical uncertainty, a shifting balance of power, and intensified competition for influence in regions neighbouring the European Union, the enlargement policy is taking on ever greater strategic importance for Europe’s security and stability. Kos emphasized the need for the Western Balkan countries to be firmly anchored to the European Union and noted that real and tangible progress is being made in this process.

Petrova expressed her gratitude to RCC Secretary General Amer Kapetanovic and his team for their active work in support of regional cooperation and the region’s European perspective.