site.btaBulgarian President Chair Glavchev Addresses Serbia's National Assembly, Confers with its Speaker

Belgrade, October 30 (BTA) - Bulgarian National Assembly Chairman Dimiter Glavchev addressed the MPs at an expressly convened Special Sitting of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia here on Monday, the Bulgarian Parliament said in a press release.

Glavchev thanked for the honour of being the first Bulgarian statesman to address a plenary sitting of Serbia's legislature and said he saw this as a clear sign of the significance of relations between the two countries and the two friendly peoples and as an aspiration to build good-neighbourly and friendly relations. "Bulgarian-Serbian friendship demonstrates that, when there is a political will, building relations of trust, cooperation and friendship is possible even in the Balkans, where people of prominent identity are gathered together," the National Assembly Chairman pointed out.

He called on Bulgarians in Serbia to be active citizens of neighbouring and friendly Serbia and to remember their kin and language. Glavchev said that Bulgaria welcomes the national minorities policy that Serbia has been implementing in recent years. "We believe that each problem can be solved only by dialogue," he added. He congratulated the Serbian MPs on having adopted, in recent years, acts on the rights of national minorities in Serbia in conformity with the most rigorous European standards.

"At present Bulgaria and Serbia share an interest in the effective realization of the statutory rights of the Bulgarian national minority and in jointly creating a favourable political framework for this in bilateral relations," Glavchev noted. He said that both countries are concerned about the economic situation of the border municipalities and are looking for solutions together. "We must also join efforts for the advancement of Bosilegrad, which is a municipality with predominantly Bulgarian population," he emphasized.

The National Assembly Chairman assured the Serbian MPs that the European perspective of the Western Balkans will be among the top priorities of the Bulgarian Presidency of the EU Council.

"Bulgaria backs Serbia's European integration and is looking forward to welcoming your country in our united European family," Glavchev said. "We are convinced that the pro-European politicians in Serbia, relying on the support and understanding of Serbian citizens, will vigorously complete all requisite reforms and the country will fully meet the requirements for membership," he added. In his words, a unique chance is opening up for Serbia in the coming months and years to accelerate the integration process.

"Serbia's principal objective now is EU membership, and the country counts on Bulgaria's experience and support while walking the path before it," Serbian National Assembly Speaker Maja Gojkovic said, emerging from a session with Bulgarian National Assembly Chairman Dimiter Glavchev.

"Despite the difficulties that Europe is experiencing today, the Union enlargement is very important, especially for the Western Balkan countries," she stressed. In her words, the Western Balkans are "part of the solution rather than part of the problem". The Speaker hopes that Serbia will join the EU earlier than the deadline set for 2025. Gojkovic thanked Bulgaria for the support that the country provides to her country in its progress towards accession to the EU.

"Bulgaria sets an example of treatment of its minority. No Bulgarian statesman has visited Serbia without enquiring about the situation of the Bulgarian national minority," the head of the Serbian Parliament emphasized. "I am glad that you started your visit from the municipalities where the members of the Bulgarian national minority live," she told Glavchev.

"You can rely on Bulgaria's support on the path to EU membership," the National Assembly Chairman pointed out. He briefed his host on his meetings with members of the Bulgarian national minority in Dimitrovgrad, Bosilegrad and Nis. "I was assured that the issues of the minority are settled as far as the legislative framework is concerned, but there are local-level problems in Bosilegrad," he said. "I am convinced that we can address these problems together by attracting investments and facilitating the municipality's economic development so as to reverse the depopulation trend," Glavchev said. "Thanks to the efforts made over the last two years, certain problems of the Bulgarian national minority, which had been building up for years and were rather a product of the totalitarian regimes in the two countries, have now started to be solved," he added.

"The two heads of parliament said that the existing interparliamentary cooperation is good and discussed how to deepen it further and concretize it through more intensive cooperation between the working bodies and friendship groups," the Serbian Parliament said in a press release. "In that context, Gojkovic mentioned the coming meeting of the Serbian, Bulgarian and Romanian foreign affairs committees in Belgrade, to also be attended by the Chairman of the Hellenic Parliament's Committee on National Defence and Foreign Affairs."

"Gojkovic and Glavchev agreed on the importance of improving the economic relations, especially as regards road infrastructure, especially the construction of the Nis-Sofia highway, as well as cooperation in the fields of energy, education and culture." the press release reads.