VARNA, Bulgaria (AP) – French President Emmanuel Macron arrived Friday at a palace on the Black Sea coast for talks with Bulgarian leaders on the final leg of his three-day visit to central and eastern Europe.
Macron’s talks are expected to focus on business, investment and Europe’s passport-free Schengen travel zone, which Bulgaria – one of the European Union’s newest members – wants to join.
Bulgaria also wants to join the Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, an international organization representing many of the globe’s advanced economies.
The French president already has met with the Austrian, Czech and Slovak leaders in Salzburg, and with Romanian leaders in Bucharest. During those stops, so-called “posted workers” – cheap labor from eastern countries posted temporarily to more prosperous European countries – were a major issue.
Bulgarian President Rumen Radev greeted Macron and his wife, Brigitte, at the 19th-century Euxinograd Palace north of Varna, a former summer royal retreat that was later used by the communist elite.
The Macrons spent the night at a villa in the palace grounds where the family of the late communist leader Todor Zhivkov used to stay.
The leaders also are expected to discuss defense issues and Bulgaria’s plans to upgrade its military.
The defense ministry said this year it plans to spend 1.8 billion euros ($2.12 billion) upgrading its military hardware between 2017 and 2029.
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Veselin Toshkov in Sofia contributed to this report.