site.btaPresident Plevneliev Meets with Businessmen, Bulgarian Minority in Serbia

President Plevneliev Meets with Businessmen, Bulgarian Minority in Serbia

Belgrade, March 13 (BTA) - On the second day of his formal visit
to Serbia, Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev took part in a
meeting with representatives of the Bulgarian and Serbian
business circles and talked to representatives of the Bulgarian
minority in the neighbouring country.

The head of State stressed the active political dialogue between
Bulgaria and Serbia and the importance of the active business
relations between the two countries. Fast launching of the
programme on cross-border cooperation between Bulgaria and
Serbia, which is of the worth of 35 million during the new
programming period, was among the agreements reached during the
President's visit. The sides also agreed on acceleration of the
completion of Trans-European Corridor X and the Sofia-Nis
Highway as well as on the construction of the gas interconnector
between the two countries.

Bulgaria and Serbia have set a goal to seek joint tourist
products and packages within the Danube Strategy, President
Plevneliev also said. A possibility to open common tourist
offices of Bulgaria, Serbia and Romania - being countries within
the Strategy - in states, such as China, for example, were also
considered.

President Plevneliev and his Serbian counterpart Tomislav
Nikolic will visit regions densely populated with ethnic
Bulgarians in Serbia, Plevneliev said at a meeting with
representatives of the Bulgarian minority in Serbia. The two
presidents agreed to make the visit already this year, after the
first joint meeting of the two countries' governments, expected
to take place in September at the latest.

According to Plevneliev, this will be a clear message to the
Bulgarian minority that Bulgaria and Serbia will work together
so that the constitutional rights of the Bulgarians in Serbia
will be observed and all constitutional obligations, related to
textbooks, papers and publications in the mother tongue -
fulfilled.

The Bulgarian head of State said further that the full set of
issues, of interest for the Bulgarian minority in Serbia, has
been raised during his visit. The political message is that
Bulgaria and Serbia do not want to have problems between each
other, while the existing ones will be resolved, Plevneliev said
adding that the two countries want to set an example of good
neighbourliness and an European approach. He noted that his
Serbian counterpart has assured him that Bulgarian textbooks
will be printed and that the Bulgarian minority will duly
receive them.

Within the visit, President Plevneliev laid a wreath at the
memorial plaque to Bulgarian revolutionaries Vassil Levski and
Georgi Rakovski in Belgrade's Tasmajdan Park.

Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov conferred with his Serbian
counterpart Ivica Dacic in Belgrade on Friday, Mitov's ministry
said in a press release. At the meeting, the Bulgarian Foreign
Minister said that strengthening the goodneighbourly relations
with Serbia is the basis of the bilateral cooperation
successful development. "We should continue to work for
deepening the pragmatic basis of our relations both in the
bilateral and regional context," he said.

The two foreign ministers discussed bilateral matters related to
the implementation of joint energy and transport projects, as
well as the opportunities for widening the Bulgarian-Serbian
economic cooperation. They agreed that by the end of 2015 their
governments should hold a joint sitting.

Mitov and Dacic also talked about the state of the Bulgarian
national minority in Serbia. They confirmed their countries'
mutual desire to work together for the quick solution of the
Bulgarian minority's problems, particularly in the sphere of
education and media in the Bulgarian language.

The Serbian Foreign Minister, who currently chairs the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE),
acquainted Mitov with the priority tasks of Serbia's OSCE
Chairmanship for 2015. Dacic outlined as key targets the
achievement of progress in the regulation of the Ukraine
conflict, as well as the strengthening of stability and security
in the Western Balkans.

Mitov confirmed that Bulgaria will provide Serbia with the
necessary assistance and support for the achievement of these
targets. He presented Bulgaria's position that the
implementation of the Minsk agreement will help find a peaceful
solution to the crisis in Ukraine. Mitov underscored the EU's
readiness to support the increase of the capacity and staff of
the OSCE mission in Eastern Ukraine.

The Bulgarian Foreign Minister also said that European
integration is a historical chance for the transformation of the
Balkans into an area of security with real opportunities and
prospects for sustainable economic development. In this context,
Bulgaria will continue to support the European path of Serbia
in its aspiration for joining the European family, and is ready
to share relevant experience and expert opinion, Mitov added.

BTA Special Correspondent in Belgrade Anelia Tsvetkova has
contributed to this story.