Bulgarian FM meets Syrian opposition leaders in Sofia
Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolai Mladenov held talks in Sofia with two members of the leadership of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces on February 11 2013, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.
The spokesman of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces Walid Al-Bunni and Alhares al-Nabhan from the leadership of the coalition were visiting Bulgaria at the invitation of the Association of Free Syria.
On February 8, at a European Council meeting in Brussels, EU leaders labelled the Bashar Assad regime as illegitimate and underlined a EU call for the immediate handing over of power and warned that in March the EU could consider new sanctions against Syria.
“For us, Syria is a close and friendly country, which is going through difficult times, for which the Bashar Assad regime is mainly responsible. This has been Bulgaria’s firm position since the start of the conflict,” Foreign Minister Mladenov said at a meeting with the opposition coalition leaders.
“The conflict is Syria is at a stage that jeopardises not only the lives of the people but also the existence of the state itself,” Mladenov said.
Walid al-Bunni, the spokesman of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, expressed his gratitude for the political support and humanitarian aid. “Countries like Bulgaria, which for a long time lived under a dictatorship, can best understand us,” he said.
(Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bulgaria)
