The European Commission backs the construction of Bulgaria's "Balkan" gas hub, which is projected to extract natural gas from the Black Sea.

This became clear after a meeting between Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and EU Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Canete, who was on a two-day visit to Bulgaria on 26 and 27 May.

That was the first time when such a high-level EU official expressed firm support for the construction of the hub.

Canete said that Bulgaria had the potential to be a key player in Europe's gas network and the capacity to be leader in the construction of the Balkan gas hub due to its historical capacity and the exceptionally well-built gas transmission network.

According to him, the Bulgarian Government had done everything possible for the construction of the gas interconnectors with neighbouring countries.

In his opinion, Bulgaria and the EU had worked tirelessly since last year for the construction of the interconnectors with Serbia, Greece and Turkey, which are key infrastructure projects for Europe and vital for the realisation of the Balkan gas hub.

Canete added that the Commission and Bulgaria were working together for the construction of the gas interconnectors with Greece and Romania and were seeking funding for the interconnector with Serbia through one of the financial instruments.

He was firm that Brussels would support each infrastructure project which complies with EU legislation.

Canete identified Bulgaria as a leader in the security of supplies and added that the country had the potential to become one of the important gas hubs.

The commissioner described Bulgaria as a reliable partner and commended the country for managing to reduce its harmful emissions, enhance the level of energy security and efficiency and surpass the benchmarks.