Bulgarian officials have reemphasized findings first announced in February linking Hezbollah to the July 2012 bus bombing in Burgas, Bulgaria that killed one Bulgarian and five Israeli citizens. Bulgarian Foreign Minister Kristian Vigenin met Monday with Israel’s ambassador to Bulgaria and explicitly rejected media reports suggesting that Sofia had reassessed its declaration that the Iran-backed terror group was involved in the attack.

Foreign Minister Kristian Vigenin has told the Israeli ambassador in Sofia, Shaul Kamisa-Raz, that Bulgaria’s position on the results of the investigation into the July 2012 terrorist bomb attack at Bourgas Airport has not changed.

Vigenin met Kamisa-Raz on June 10, the Foreign Ministry said.

Among the topics discussed was the excellent co-operation between the two countries in the field of security, the statement said.

“We place high value on the support of Israel for the development of our potential to combat terrorism. We have no choice but to co-operate for the sake of the security of the citizens of both countries,” Vigenin said, and confirmed Bulgaria’s position in regard to the results of the investigation into the bombing attack at Sarafovo, adding that Bulgaria is relying on its foreign partners to provide the requested legal assistance in the case.

Vigenin’s statement comes at a time when the European Union is under renewed pressure to designate Hezbollah as a terror group, with E.U. officials indicating that the combination of the Bulgarian investigation and the conviction of a confessed Hezbollah member by a Cypriot court “change[d] the equation.”

Ireland is reportedly blocking efforts by the U.K. and others to secure the blacklisting, effectively preventing the E.U. from acknowledging that a group which commits terrorist acts against E.U. citizens on E.U. soil is in fact a terrorist organization.

[Photo: Kristian Vigenin / Youtube]