Bulgaria supports efforts aimed at developing and connecting the economies and infrastructure of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe along the North-South axis, President Rosen Plevneliev has said at the international conference "Adriatic, Baltic and Black Sea" held in Dubrovnik, Croatia.

The regional cooperation requires timely political support and decisive action to make the countries of Central and Eastern Europe more resilient and competitive within the European Union, Plevneliev has said at the forum, according to a press release issued by his office on Thursday.

The forum in the Adriatic city brought together the heads of state of Bulgaria, Lithuania, Poland, Slovenia, Hungary and Croatia, as well as government officials from Austria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Romania and Slovakia.

New effective ways of cooperation must be sought in energy, transport, digital communications and trade, if the countries on the North-South axis want to grow into a stable and prosperous region and have a strong voice in the EU, Plevneliev has added.

Underdeveloped infrastructure is a major obstacle to theeconomic progress of the region linking the three seas, Plevneliev said, and called for putting the focus of regional cooperation policy on the completion of existing projects as well as the launch of new ones.