site.btaBulgarian, Ukrainian Presidents Discuss Rights of Bulgarians in Ukraine

New York, September 20 (BTA) - Bulgaria expects that the Law "On Education", adopted in Ukraine, should by no means affect the rights and ability of Bulgarians in that country to study their mother tongue, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev said at a meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Radev's Press Secretariat said on Wednesday.

"We agreed that there will be no restrictions whatsoever on the study of the Bulgarian language at school, in terms of either the quality or quantity of classes," the Bulgarian head of State said after the end of the meeting.

Poroshenko pledged to react immediately if Radev receives a complaint from the Bulgarians in Ukraine in the wake of the legislative amendments. Ukraine's Education Minister will arrive in Bulgaria soon, and all matters concerning the educational reform in progress and ways to protect better the rights of the local Bulgarian community and its opportunities to study its native language will be sorted out on site, Radev specified.

During the meeting, the Ukrainian head of State assured his Bulgarian counterpart that, in the process of Ukraine's decentralization, no action will be taken for the administrative division of the historic Bolgrad District, which has a large Bulgarian population. The sides also discussed the possibility of lifting the tightened control over the business carried out by Bulgarian companies, provided for by virtue of Ukrainian Government Decree No. 449 because of the different tax rates in the two countries.

President Radev confirmed his country's categorical support for Ukraine's European perspective and expressed Bulgaria's readiness to share its experience in this process.