Bulgaria’s Caretaker Foreign Minister Takes Part in Informal Meeting of EU Ministers of Foreign Affairs

During a discussion on unresolved conflicts in the Eastern Partnership at an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers (a.k.a. Gymnich meeting) held in Lisbon, Bulgarian caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs Svetlan Stoev said, quoted by his Ministry, that stability and security in the area of the Eastern Partnership are priorities for the Bulgarian government.

Foreign ministers of EU member states discuss the implementation of targeted economic sanctions against Belarus at their meeting in Lisbon, the bloc's foreign policy chief said on Thursday.

The top EU diplomats will hold an informal meeting in Lisbon, hosted by the Portuguese government after assuming the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Earlier this week, EU governments gave the green light for their foreign ministers to work on new sanctions against Belarus over Sunday's forced diversion of the Ryanair flight and arrests of journalist Roman Protasevich and his companion Sofia Sapega.

The Ryanair flight heading from Greece to Lithuania was diverted to Belarus on the pretext of a bomb threat.

Borrell explained that the EU foreign ministers will be "discussing the implementation of sectorial and economic sanctions" against Belarus, but will not make a final decision since the meeting in Lisbon is informal.

Besides Belarus, the foreign ministers will talk about other conflicts in the EU's Eastern parts affecting the bloc's security, including Ukraine, Georgia, and Nagorno-Karabagh.

Ayman Safadi, Jordan's foreign minister, will join his EU counterparts later on Thursday to discuss the situation in the Middle East, with a special focus on the situation in Palestine.