BULGARIA: Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany meets his Bulgarian counterpart Sergey Stanishev in Sofia

Hungary's Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany arrived on an official visit to meet his Bulgarian counterpart Sergey Stanishev on Friday (August 25). During his day-long visit Gyurcsany voiced his support for the scheduled Bulgarian entry to the European Union. He also said that he expects the European Commission to come up with a positive report about Bulgaria later this year. But Gyurcsany emphasised the need for Eastern European countries not to depend on the European Union. "It will not be the European Union who will solve a country's affairs, but the citizens' institutions and the companies of that country," he said. "This is the way it is in the case of Hungary, and this will also be the case in Bulgaria. The membership of the European Union is a big opportunity, it opens the way, it opens the door and the window. It is up to us to step up to the door, and look out the window," he added. Hungary is due to decide whether Bulgarian and Romanian workers should get access to their job market, and Gyurcsany said that any uneasiness in allowing a free flow of workers was mostly connected to Romania. And the minority of one million Hungarians living in Romania complicate the matters. The debate of whether to allow Bulgarian and Romanian workers is ongoing in Hungary and the government will come up with a decision in December 2006. "I am sure that Bulgarians and the Bulgarian working force will not pose any threat to the Hungarian job market, bearing in mind the realities of today," Gyurcsany said. Gyurcsany also offered expert help from his country about utilizing EU funds and showed his friendly feelings about Bulgaria, noting that his wife has Bulgarian genes and her first language was Bulgarian.

ITN Source | August 28, 2006

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