site.btaPresident Radev Urges Expatriates in Chicago Not to Forget Bulgarian

Chicago, September 25 (BTA) - Meeting with members of the Bulgarian community in Chicago on Sunday, President Rumen Radev said their achievements show that Bulgarians can be successful even in a highly competitive environment, the President's press secretariat reported on Monday. Radev thanked the expatriates for the schools and the church they have built in the city and for their unity of action.

During the meeting, the head of state reviewed the results of his participation in the 72nd UN General Assembly session in New York over the past week and took questions from the audience.

He congratulated the expatriates on the formal recognition of Bulgarian as an official language in the education system of the state of Illinois. He vowed to support the effort to obtain such recognition in other US states as well. Radev recalled that back in New York he visited the local education department and was told that the possible recognition of the Bulgarian language in the state education system will be considered.

The President urged the Bulgarian community in Chicago to make sure that their children do not forget their mother tongue, because if they do, their own children will lose their Bulgarian awareness. "This is a joint struggle we all have to wage," he noted.

Radev went on to say: "I think that right now it would be useless to urge you to return to Bulgaria. We all want it, but it is up to every individual to decide if their own standards are met with regard to income, business environment, crime situation, corruption, rule of law, and public confidence in the institutions." The President was adamant that he will not relent in fighting corruption in Bulgaria.

The expatriates raised questions about the possibility of introducing majoritarian voting and remote electronic voting in Bulgarian political elections, the development of the electronic government system, the chances of lifting US visa restrictions for Bulgarian travellers, and whether Bulgaria could sign a social security agreement with the US.