Southeastern Europe and the countries of the Western Balkans, among them Albania, should work for a stronger infrastructural and energy connection and invest in innovation. This is the vision of Greece, Romania, Croatia and Bulgaria, expressed on Tuesday in a joint statement adopted in the wake of high-level meetings at the UN General Assembly.

“We are committed to strengthening our connections in science, education, energy, technology and innovation, to ensure a more sustainable development of the Southeast European region,” reads the joint statement adopted by the four countries of the region.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Head of Bulgarian Diplomacy, Marija Gabriel said that we must work for stability.

“Therefore, our objective is to draw attention to the development of the South-North corridor. This means infrastructure, energy security and diversification. It means investing in connectivity, in innovation,” added the chief diplomat.

Although a member of the European Union, Bulgaria is diplomatically struggling to join the Schengen area like many countries in the region.

Austria remains one of the EU countries that rejects the entry of Romania and Bulgaria into the Schengen zone. The reason for the blockade is the high flow of illegal immigrants from these two countries.

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev discussed this issue on Tuesday with his Austrian counterpart Aleksandër Van der Bellen.

“Bulgarian law enforcement agencies are catching migrant smugglers from all EU member states who come to do business in Bulgaria. But the operational centers of illegal trafficking are not in Bulgaria, but in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands. “We hit these centers, illegal immigration through Bulgaria will continue,” said President Radev, speaking from the UN premises in New York.

/k.s/