Vol. 566 No. 1
276 Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs further to the replies to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 190 to 192 of 9 April 2003, the outcome of the Minister of State's visit to Bulgaria in April 2003; if the visit did not take place, the reasons therefor; and if the visit has been officially rescheduled, the date of same. [12404/03]
The Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Roche, visited Bulgaria on 28-29 April as part of ongoing contacts with the candidate and acceding countries. In the course of his visit, Deputy Roche held consultations with Minister for Foreign Affairs, Solomon Passy, Minister for European Affairs, Meglena Kuneva, who is also chief negotiator for Bulgarian accession and the Parliamentary Committee on EU Affairs, and met with members of the Irish community in Bulgaria.
The main issues covered during these discussions were the convention where there was broad support for the position of small and medium size countries, enlargement where the Bulgarian side are concerned to conclude their negotiations at the earliest possible date and bilateral relations.
