Addressing a forum on Wednesday on the results of the Bulgarian EU Presidency, Minister for EU Presidency Liliyana Pavlova said that one of the crucial indirect benefits was that it has changed Bulgaria's image and perception.

She reported that 284 events took place in Sofia, which were attended by 35,000 delegates. 

The programme and the priorities of the presidency were flexible enough and allowed the Bulgarian presidency to be adequate and up to speed with reality and the issues of the day, said Pavlova.

According to a survey by Alpha Research carried out between June 18 and 24 among 1,041 people and commissioned by the Ministry for the Bulgarian EU Presidency, 60 per cent say of respondents said that Bulgaria was prepared for its role and 14 per cent think that it wasn't.

The survey was presented by Boryana Dimitrova.

She recalled that according to data of December 2017 the then ratio was 47 per cent to 21 per cent.

Some 19 per cent assess Bulgaria's performance as 'very good', while 62 per cent say it was 'good'.

Some 12 per cent believe that Bulgaria did a poor job and only 1 per cent say that Bulgaria did a very poor job. One in ten persons who were skeptical in December changed their mind to positive.

In their assessment of the progress that was made 55 per cent say that it was the EU perspective of the Western Balkans, 32 per cent the future of Europe, 27 per cent security and stability in united Europe and 19 per cent the digital economy and the skills of the future. Dimitrova specified that respondents were able to give multiple answers to this question.