site.btaIncreased Serbian Funding for Nine Media in Bulgarian - President

Dimitrovgrad, Southeastern Serbia, June 22 (BTA Special Correspondent Lora Metanova) - On the second day of his official visit to Serbia, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev and his host, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, met with members of the Bulgarian national minority in Dimitrovgrad on Friday.

"The Serbian State will treble the amount of its funding for nine Bulgarian-language media," Radev told a news briefing after the meeting.

Speaking of education in Bulgarian, the guest noted that after Bulgarian textbooks were not published for 30 years, all primary-school textbooks have been published since last year, and the minority's National Council is now expected to decide on the versions for secondary school. The Serbian State is ready to print them immediately.

"Depopulation is the more serious problem. It cannot be solved single-handedly," Radev said. He added that there is a plan, the relevant steps are being taken, and infrastructure development is continuing.

The President called on the local authorities, which have many members from the Bulgarian national minority, to work more effectively for attracting investors.

Regarding healthcare, Radev said there will be additional financial aid for the local medical facilities and that the Military Medical Academy in Sofia has confirmed it will accept patients and periodically send teams for local preventive care. He noted that enormous progress has been made in Serbian legislation with respect of the minorities and that it is expected to see this effect on the spot.

"This meeting was unprecedented," Radev said, "because the two presidents attended a candid and fruitful meeting with the Bulgarian national minority. The fate of this minority is exceedingly important not only for Bulgaria, but for Serbia, too. It is important for both bilateral relations and Serbia's European perspective."

Radev said that Vucic and he are on friendly, constructive and completely honest terms. Both are aware of the problems, but there is a new spirit in their relations, both the Bulgarian State and President Vucic are committed to it, but Serbian law should be observed, too, the Bulgarian head of State noted. "Being a citizen of Serbia who identifies himself as a Bulgarian also implies abiding by the laws of the country you live in," he added. He called for greater unity of the Bulgarian national minority as a community, as well as of the National Council, because the extent to which both the Serbian and the Bulgarian State can commit to the solution of the problems depends on this. He thanked Vucic, congratulating him on his leadership and political responsibility to work together and achieve complete historical reconciliation, resolve the problems of the Bulgarian national minority, and pursue relations in a spirit of friendship.

"For his part, Vucic was adamant that the Serbian State will not tolerate hate speech and similar actions that also involve negative rhetoric," Radev said.