Bulgaria Congratulates Kosovo on Full Sovereignty

Bulgaria has congratulated Kosovo on the occasion of the end of the international monitoring of the country.

"Bulgaria is happy to be with the people of Kosovo on the day on which the monitored independence of the country officially ends," Ivan Sirakov, Permanent Secretary of the Bulgarian Foreign Affairs Ministry, has said in Pri?tina.

Sirakov participated in the meeting of the International Steering Group for Kosovo on Monday.

"This is an important moment for the future of Kosovo and the whole region. The authorities in Pristina have demonstrated determination to work to build a democratic and multi-ethnic state for all citizens of Kosovo, although to achieve this aim, more is needed," the Bulgarian official declared.

He thanked the EULEX and KFOR missions for having an important role in this process and expressed his hope Kosovo would continue cooperating with them.

"Kosovo's desire to walk the path of European integration should be supported and encouraged. The European and Euro-Atlantic integration of the Western Balkans is a priority of our foreign policy. We believe that the Republic of Kosovo is an integral part of the European perspectives of the region," Sirakov said.

Thirteen years after the end of the Kosovo war, international supervision of Kosovo ends on Monday even though foreign involvement and supervision in the country is far from being over.

The International Steering Group (ISG), comprised of 25 countries including the UK and the US, has been supervising Kosovo's independence since the former Serbian province unilaterally proclaimed it in 2008.

NATO forces are still present in the country and the EU mission, EULEX, continues to have a say in judicial issues.

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