SOFIA, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- European Union (EU) foreign affairs and security chief Federica Mogherini and Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva expressed optimism here on Friday about the EU integration perspective of the Western Balkans.

Providing a tangible European outlook for the region is one of Bulgaria's priorities during the six months the country's holds the presidency of the Council of the EU.

At a joint press conference after a two-day informal meeting of EU foreign ministers, Mogherini spoke about the discussion she had with Zaharieva on the European Commission strategy on the Western Balkans that was presented last week.

"We had a very positive discussion with the ministers where I saw a clear unity of purpose in the support of the work we are doing together with the Bulgarian presidency to guarantee the perspective of a common future inside the EU with our partners in the region," Mogherini said.

Zaharieva said what was very important and underlined by all EU foreign ministers, was that "the countries of the Western Balkans are not a backyard of Europe...They are the heart of Europe and part of Europe."

Nobody was interested in the existence of countries that were isolated from the process of European integration, she said.