Sofia and London will cooperate in the areas of clean air, transport, security. This was agreed between the Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova and the London Mayor Sadiq Khan during their meating.

The London mayor Sadiq Khan said that he was impressed by the successful development of the Sofia Metro, which has been expanding fast in recent years, as well as by Mayor Fandakova’s actions aimed at dealing with air pollution.

The cooperation of mayors is important for the partnership between cities, said Mayor Khan. According to him London, Paris, Berlin, Sofia must learn from each other. He gave an example with the saying that “It’s better to use something that works, instead of inventing something that doesn’t work." continuing by saying that "... Sofia too has examples that I would be happy to use.“

In recent years Sofia has been developing fast and we are investigating the experience of the major European capitals in various areas, indicated the Sofia Mayor Mrs. Fandakova, also confirming that she would be happy to cooperate with London. Mayor Sadiq Khan expressed his readiness to ensure expert support in various areas.

Regarding his policies in the area of transport Sadiq Khan shared that he considered extremely important the development of the share of public transport and finding the proper balance between the different participants in street traffic – pedestrians, cyclists and motor vehicles. Some of the measures, regarding air pollution, that have been taken in London include the congestion charge and fines on polluting vehicles.

During the meeting the London Mayor thanked the Sofia Mayor and the Bulgarians in London, whom he refers to as Londoners and emphasized that "they are part of our community“. Khan said that Bulgarians in London are hard-working, diligent and good tax-payers.

The meeting that took place in London’s City Hall was also attended by Nikolay Stoynev, the Deputy Mayor of the Sofia Municipal Council, Evgeni Krusev, Deputy Mayor of Sofia on Transport and Transport Communications, Vladimir Danailov – Executive Director of the Municipal Agency, as well as His Excellency the Bulgarian Ambassador Konstantin Dimitrov.