site.btaBulgaria Facilitates Issuing of Visas for Ethnic Bulgarians in Ukraine

Bulgaria Facilitates Issuing of Visas for Ethnic Bulgarians in Ukraine

Sofia, February 10 (BTA) - The Bulgarian Government follows
closely the reports about tension among representatives of the
minorities in Ukraine, including the Bulgarian minority, amidst
the fourth wave of mobilization there, the press service of the
Bulgarian Government said. "The Foreign Ministry has already
sent instructions to the Bulgarian Embassy in Kiev and the
Consulate General in Odessa to facilitate the issuing of visas
for our compatriots from the region of military actions," reads
the message.

The Foreign Ministry is drafting a decision on the supply of
humanitarian aid to the ethnic Bulgarians in Ukraine as the form
 and manner of its provision are being specified.

The Foreign Ministry has said that it is in a permanent contact
with the Bulgarian diplomatic representations in Ukraine - the
Embassy in Kiev, the Consulate General in Odessa - as well as
with the Ukrainian authorities to clarify the case.     

"We rely that the Ukrainian authorities will not allow
disruption of the principle of proportionality while determining
 the number of persons, subject to mobilization, in the places
with compact Bulgarian population and will undertake the
necessary actions to prevent tension in the regions, where the
Bulgarian or any other minority is living," the message says
further.   

 The Bulgarian side has firmly stated its position before the
Ukrainian Ambassador in Sofia. The issue will also be raised
before the Ukrainian side during the upcoming visit of Ukrainian
 Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin to Bulgaria.

The message says further that Bulgaria consistently supports the
 intensified  international efforts, including the visit of
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois
Hollande to Kiev and Moscow to coordinate measures for the
implementation of the Minsk agreement. "We hope for a positive
result to this effect during the upcoming meeting of the
Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine, due in Minsk on Wednesday,"
 the message concludes.