site.btaBosilegrad-based Conference Discusses Media Role in Resolving Bulgarians' Problems in Serbia

Bosilegrad, Serbia, July 25 (BTA) - The Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) and the GLAS (Group of Liberal, Ambitious and Solidary) Association Wednesday held in Bosilegrad a meeting of the media of the Bulgarian minority in Serbia. The forum discussed the role of the media in resolving the problems of our compatriots in the region.

The meeting was opened by BTA Director General Maxim Minchev, Bulgaria's Ambassador to Serbia Radko Vlaykov, the Consul General in Nis, Edvin Sugarev, and media expert Georgi Lozanov.

BTA has had a solid presence in Bosilegrad for years and has traditionally been the most solid institution in the so-called Western Outlands, not just as a media presence but also as an institution as a whole, Minchev said. He added that the present meeting aims to resolve the contradictory issues related to the media profession. This is also related to the future integration of the Western Balkans in Euro-Atlantic structures. Minchev recalled that the questionable issues about the minority media were raised at the meetings of the two presidents, Aleksandar Vucic and Rumen Radev, and that solutions on some of them have already been found.

Vlaykov said the Bulgarian minority can also already boast of results in respect to the results achieved regarding the democratic elections for the national councils of the Bulgarian minority and the funding of minority media in Serbia. "A serious commitment was achieved in support of the functions of the media at top presidency level," Vlaykov noted.

Sugarev pointed out that the media in the Western Outlands have increased in less than two years. However, there are problems still related to pressure on the part of the local authorities, the level and the content of the media.

Lozanov spoke of how important the broadcasting of Bulgarian National Television signal is in the territories where representatives of the Bulgarian minority live and this has been a problem for years.

Participating are representatives of the various ethnic groups in Serbia, media in Tsaribrod, Bosilegrad, Bis and Bujanovac. The meeting is also attended by MPs from Bulgaria, including from the Culture and Media Committee and the Foreign Policy Committee. There are also guests from the Agency for Bulgarians Abroad and the Presidency.