Foreign Minister: Serbia does not fulfill the Agreements on the Rights of Bulgarians in the Country

"Respecting the rights of Bulgarians in the 'Western regions' (eastern Serbia) is an element of the criteria we observe when it comes to Serbia's negotiations for membership in the European Union." This was stated by Bulgaria's Foreign Minister Nikolay Milkov to Milena Milotinova in the program "Brussels 1" on "BG on Air".

Milkov stated that many agreements have been reached between Bulgaria and Serbia regarding the rights of Bulgarians in the Western outskirts, the latest of which were during the meetings between Presidents Rumen Radev and Aleksandar Vucic.

"The problem is that they are not being implemented in full, or not being implemented at all," said our foreign minister. To illustrate the problem, he gave an example of the textbooks in Bulgarian that Bulgarians in Tsaribrod and Bosilegrad should study.

The textbooks are ready for only a few classes, while the others are missing - currently they are still being discussed by the relevant commissions in the Serbian Ministry of Education. This actually prevents a normal educational process in Bulgarian. There is no way you can study Bulgarian textbooks in first and second grade, then switch to Serbian, etc. "This is how things are partially fulfilled and become meaningless," Milkov stated.

He pointed out that the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry is trying to help increase the welfare of Bulgarians in the Western outskirts by organizing business conferences and encouraging Bulgarian companies to invest in this region.

"Over 700 people travel from the Western outskirts every day to work in our country," said Milkov and added that by the end of the year, the lanes on the Bulgarian side of the Kalotina border crossing are expected to be...