Bulgarian Parliament Endorses Serbia EU Accession

Bulgaria’s Foreign Minister, Nikolay Mladenov, believes Serbia joining the EU will be beneficial for Bulgaria. Photo by BGNES

The Bulgarian Parliament officially ratified on Friday the Agreement for Association and Stabilization between the EU and Serbia, signed in 2008.

The ratification brought together the majority and the opposition and was supported by both with the exception of the Members of the Parliament from the far-right, nationalist Ataka party, who abstained.

Earlier, the party leader, Volen Siderov, said unconditional support for Serbia is not logical and asked for a clause mandating Serbia to observe the rights of the Bulgarian minority in the country.

Bulgaria’s Foreign Minister, Nikolay Mladenov, pointed out Serbia’s joining of the EU serves the bilateral relations with Bulgaria and the stability in the region. “In order to prevent pessimism, mistrust and disappointment, we must give a clear signal that all our Western Balkans neighbors will become part of the EU when they fulfill all membership requirements,” Mladenov said.

He received the support of his own, ruling center-right Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) party, the right-wing “Blue Coalition,” the opposition left-wing Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), and the opposition ethnic Turkish party Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS).

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