The Special Co-ordinator of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, Bodo Hombach, will hold political talks with Bulgaria's new Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and his government in Sofia on 30/31 July. He will also meet with several ministers including Foreign Minister Solomon Passi, Minister for Finance Milen Velchev, Minister for Transport Plamen Petrov and the President of the Parliament Ognjan Gerdjikov. A meeting with President Petar Stoyanov is also envisaged. The talks will centre on Bulgaria's role in the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, in particular the Stability Pact's support for creating conditions for Bulgaria's accession to EU and an ever closer relationship with NATO. Other topics will be the upcoming Regional Conference in Bucharest on 25-26 October which will further enhance the donor process within the Stability Pact, the situation in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and the co-operation of the Danube Basin countries under the aegis of the Stability Pact. A joint press conference with Foreign Minister Solomon Passi and Special Co-ordinator Bodo Hombach is foreseen on 31 July at around 13 h in the Foreign Ministry.