Union for the Black Sea May Be Established in 2009

Varna, Oct 31. (BTA). Next year a memorandum for the establishment of a Union for the Black Sea may be signed, Professor Zahari Zahariev, Chairman of the Federation for Friendship with the Peoples of Russia and the CIS and of the Slaviani Foundation, said on Friday. He added that although the deadline may seem overoptimistic, the conditions are ripe for the implementation of the idea.

Professor Zahariev opened a roundtable entitled "Black Sea Synergy: New Horizons before EU Integration." The forum is held by the Diplomatic Institute under the Bulgarian Foreign Minister, the Diplomatic Academy with Russia's Foreign Ministry and the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP).

Zahariev said that the roundtable is a preliminary step to a conference on energy next April in Bulgaria, which will draw the energy map of Europe and the world in the 21st century.

The future Union for the Black Sea will attempt to build a closer relationship among EU Member States, applicant countries and those not seeking EU membership. Zahariev said that a dialogue between the EU and Russia is possible and forums like this one serve to strengthen it.

Zahariev said that all Black Sea countries would like to participate in a dialogue at a regional level. The future union will lay the foundations for the building of infrastructure for the implementation of specific projects in the region, especially in the energy sector.

Russian State Duma member Mikhail Emelyanov said Black Sea countries should look for ways to cooperate and that Russia and the European Union have no conflicting interests and can benefit each other. He hopes that Bulgaria and Romania's admission to the EU would have a positive effect on the whole region.