Riga, December 1 (BTA) - Bulgaria supports the Euro-Atlantic integration of Georgia and Ukraine and will continue to assist them multilaterally, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Svetlan Stoev said at NATO's Foreign Ministers Session with Georgia and Ukraine in Riga, Latvia, on December 1, Stoev's Ministry said in a press release on Tuesday.

The foreign ministers discussed the growing challenges in the Black Sea region and the Russian military build-up on Ukraine's borders.

Later in the day, meeting in a North Atlantic Council format, the chief diplomats considered the lessons learnt from Afghanistan and the global counter-terrorism efforts, the opportunities to provide additional support to the reform process and to maintain lasting stability in the Western Balkans.

Stoev noted that the lessons learnt from the NATO mission in Afghanistan should be included in NATO's next Strategic Concept. He also reaffirmed the strategic importance of the Western Balkans for the Alliance and expressed Bulgaria's strong support for the European and Euro-Atlantic integration of the six countries in the region. He stressed the need for enhanced NATO-EU cooperation in the context of growing threats and challenges to the Western Balkan countries. "The two organizations' joint active efforts make the region a zone of stability and prosperity, resistant to malicious influences from third parties. We should continue building on what has already been achieved in the region and promote the reform process, the rule of law, and the protection of human rights and good neighborly relations," Stoev added.

Within the framework of the NATO foreign ministers meeting, Bulgaria's Foreign Minister held bilateral meetings with his counterparts Bujar Osmani of the Republic of North Macedonia and Jeppe Kofod of Denmark. VE/YV/LG