On Monday, 30 March, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andrii Sybiha welcomed his Bulgarian counterpart, Minister of Foreign Affairs Nadezhda Neynsky, to Kyiv. She arrived as part of a government delegation led by the acting Head of Government of Bulgaria, Andrei Gyurow.

The Foreign Ministers held detailed negotiations on a wide range of issues of bilateral relations, including the strengthening of Ukraine's defense capabilities, energy support, Ukraine's progress towards the EU, and Bulgaria's participation in the reconstruction efforts.

"We welcome the announcement of the Bulgarian Government's intention to join the PURL initiative," the Minister noted, emphasizing that Sofia is an important partner in the defense-industrial sector.

Andrii Sybiha noted that Ukraine and Bulgaria are intensifying their dialogue on cooperation within the framework of the Coalition of the Willing and the SAFE initiative. Bulgaria has provided Ukraine with a total of 16 packages of defense assistance, for which the Ukrainian side will always be grateful.

"I am grateful to the Government of Bulgaria and the Bulgarian people for their support of Ukraine. We value Bulgaria's readiness to develop cooperation both at the bilateral level and within the framework of international organizations," the Head of the MFA stated.

The Minister also informed that the Parties agreed to enhance cooperation in countering disinformation and other hybrid threats.

Andrii Sybiha also highlighted the success of the intergovernmental consultations held today. They have become an important mechanism for coordinating bilateral cooperation and have allowed for the achievement of concrete agreements. In particular, it was agreed to develop a detailed Roadmap for deepening the partnership, and an Agreement on Security Cooperation between Ukraine and Bulgaria was signed.

"We share the view that democracy is not given once and for all — it must be supported daily through joint efforts. And I am grateful that we share this common commitment," the Foreign Minister remarked.

A significant result of today's intergovernmental consultations was the signing of a Protocol between the Ministries of Education of the two countries regarding the functioning of the Georgi Rakovski Bolhrad Gymnasium in the Odesa region. This serves as a practical confirmation of Ukraine's fulfillment of its obligations to protect the rights of national communities in the context of European integration.

The Foreign Ministers also considered ways to deepen energy cooperation, in particular through the development of energy and transport corridors, and discussed the prospects of launching direct rail links between Ukraine and Bulgaria.

The Head of the MFA specifically noted the Bulgarian government's decision to provide industrial transformers, which will be delivered to Ukraine in the near future. He expressed his gratitude to the Bulgarian side for this practical support.

Andrii Sybiha thanked Bulgaria for its role in the rehabilitation of Ukrainian children.

"Over the past two years, seven groups from frontline regions — a total of 379 children — have undergone rehabilitation in Bulgaria. This initiative is of paramount humanitarian importance, and we hope for its continuation this year," he noted.

The Head of the MFA expressed gratitude for Sofia's support of Ukraine's movement toward EU membership and expressed hope that today's negotiations would provide a solid foundation for the further development of bilateral cooperation.

"Today's agreements reaffirm once again that Ukraine and Bulgaria are reliable partners. Our diplomatic relations have been developing for over 100 years. Bulgaria was among the first four countries to recognize the independence of the Ukrainian People's Republic in 1918," the Minister remarked.

An important part of the visit was the presentation of archival diplomatic documents from the first years of independence, which were presented to the Bulgarian delegation at the MFA of Ukraine, kindly provided by the State Archival Service of Ukraine.

Presenting the exhibition to his Bulgarian colleagues, Andrii Sybiha emphasized that these documents testify to the long-standing diplomatic and people-to-people ties between Ukraine and Bulgaria. The MFA of Ukraine expresses its gratitude to the Chairman of the State Archival Service Anatolii Khromov and the Director of the Central State Archives of Supreme Organs of Power and Administration Larysa Levchenko for searching and preparing the materials for the presentation.