ATHENS — President Katerina Sakellaropoulou met with Bulgarian President Rumen Radev at the presidential mansion in Athens on Wednesday.

The two presidents confirmed the significance of the two countries' long-standing bilateral relations and affirmed their will to deepen these. They also talked about how the coronavirus pandemic showed that Greece and Bulgaria were called to cooperate and synchronize their actions against the pandemic, said Sakellaropoulou. "We are neighbors, partners in the European Union and allies in NATO, and we comprise a pillar of stability in Southeast Europe," she noted.

They then discussed developments in the Eastern Mediterranean, including Turkey’s decision to open Famagusta's Varosha coastal front in Northern Cyprus and the sailing of survey vessel Oruc Reis. The recent conclusions of the European Council "have opened a window of opportunity in EU-Turkey relations, pointing to the fact that the only path to international legitimacy is to avoid unilateral actions," she added.

The Bulgarian president said that any challenges faced by Greece and Bulgaria are essentially European challenges, and that the cooperation between the two countries "shows that peace, stability and development is feasible in the Balkan region."

He also briefed the Greek President on the Three Seas initiative, which brings together EU member states located between the Baltic, Black, and Adriatic Seas: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Austria, Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria.

In this context, Radev told Sakellaropoulou about the aim to promote cooperation for the development of infrastructures in the energy, transport, and digital sectors, and invited her to Bulgaria to further discuss cooperation between Greece and Bulgaria.