Moldova PM in Sofia, Tensions over Bulgarian Community Ease

Ways to boost Bulgarian-Moldovan cooperation in trade and tackling natural disasters will top the agenda of Prime Minister Vlad Filat during his official visit to Sofia on Thursday.

Filat is scheduled to confer with Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and President Rosen Plevneliev.

The visit comes just a week after the Moldovan government restored centralized funding for the Bulgarian community in Taraclia in what was hailed in Sofia as "a European decision".

In end-March, the Bulgarian minority in Taraclia complained to the Bulgarian government and the foreign diplomats in Kishinev of "unprecedented discrimination measures" by the central authority.

The ethnic Bulgarians in Moldova were alarmed by the decision for the termination of all state funding for the region.

Bulgaria's Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov stressed the restored funding will allow the normal functioning of educational institutions, hospitals and the entire community in Taraclia.

"The Bulgarian community in Moldova is the most natural bridge to European integration of the country. The positive decision is further proof of the friendly and partnership relations between Sofia and Kishinev, as well as an expression of the trust built between the two sides," Mladenov stated.

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