EU Integration Said to Fix Issues of Bulgarian Minority in Serbia

"Think about Bosilegrad first and then about Belgrade", reads this banner of protesting members of the Buglarian minority in Serbia. Photo by BGNES

Vetoing Serbia’s EU integration will mean “shutting the door” for fixing the problems of the Bulgarian minority there.

This view expressed Tuesday morning by the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Vesela Cherneva reiterated the words of PM Boyko Borisov during his visit in Serbia on Monday which came amidst demands by the Bulgarian minority that the government should make its support for Serbia’s EU accession conditional on improving their lot.

Cherneva declared that it is in Bulgaria’s interest to see Serbia turn itself to the EU as this would be the best way to sort out the issues of Bulgaria’s western neighbor.

Representatives of the Bulgarian minority in Serbia have said they are not against its EU accession but have compare Bulgaria’s attitudes to that of Greece which behaves much more strongly in support of its national minorities.

Speaking on BNT 1, Neboysha Ivanov from the Bulgarian minority in Serbia explained that the major issues of the population of the municipalities of Bosilegrad and Dimitrovgrad (Tsaribrod) have to do with violations of their rights to mother tongue education and the last of employment and investments in the so called “Western Outlands”.

On Monday, several dozens of Bulgarians from Serbia held a protest rally before the Bulgarian Parliament in Sofia outraged by the all-out support that Parliament Chair Tsetska Tsacheva expressed for Serbia’s EU accession last week without even mentioning the plight of the Bulgarian minority.

This support on part of the Bulgarian state was reiterated Monday in Belgrade by PM Borisov who said he saw EU integration as the cure for their problems.

Representatives of the Bulgarian minority in Serbia are expected to meet with the Parliament Chair Tsacheva later on Tuesday.

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