Bulgaria Upholds Ukraine's Sovereignty

Bulgarian Foreign Minister Svetlan Stoev, who began a three-day visit to Ukraine on Monday, confirmed his country's consistent support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders and voiced concern over the increasing militarization in the Black Sea region. The chief Bulgarian diplomat addressed the inaugural session of the International Crimea Platform Summit.

The forum, initiated by Ukraine and backed by the EU, is under the auspices of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and seeks to focus international attention on the illegal annexation of Crimea and the need to reintegrate the peninsula into Ukraine. The participants in the inaugural session included European Council President Charles Michel, European Commission Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis, and high-ranking representatives of 46 countries and organizations.
"This forum provides me with an appropriate venue to confirm yet again Bulgaria's strong and traditional support for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders," the Foreign Minister said.
He emphasized that, as a EU Member State and a friend and partner with a historic Bulgarian ethnic community in Ukraine, his country will remain strongly committed to the implementation of the policy of non-recognition of the annexation of Crimea. "Crimea's deoccupation and the resolution of the conflict in Eastern Ukraine must remain high on the international agenda," he added.
"As a Black Sea country, we are concerned about the increasing militarization of the region," Stoev said. In his statement, he also stressed the need to ensure free access to the Ukrainian ports in the Sea of Azov. "The full and...