site.btaBosilegrad Bulgarian Minority's Cultural Information Centre Chair: Bulgarians in Serbia Are Experiencing their Worst Hardships

Тhe founder and chairperson of the Cultural Information Centre of the Bosilegrad Bulgarian National Minority, Ivan Nikolov, was awarded with the Stara Planina Order without ribbon, first degree, by the President on Monday in Sofia. He was awarded for his extraordinary services to the Republic of Bulgaria related to his consistent and unwavering protection of the rights, national identity and dignity of Bulgarians in the Republic of Serbia.

"As a man devoid of aspirations for fame and benefits, I take this moment to stress that I accept this award as a recognition of our common efforts, which we have made together over the past three decades to defend human rights and the preservation of Bulgarian education and culture in the western suburbs," Nikolov said.

"Unfortunately, the efforts made do not always correspond to the results achieved. Bulgarians in Serbia, and not only in Serbia, are currently experiencing their worst hardships, on which depends whether we will resist the dark ideology that has separated us from our homeland and pushed the border through churches, cemeteries, courtyards and most terribly - through people's souls. An ideology that even today shells, burns and raids Bulgarian cultural and information centres, that takes away Bulgarian books, conducts lawsuits and subjects to violence, persecution and wiretapping people who defend their national and human dignity," Nikolov added.

He called for more solidarity and "an even more definite and consistent Bulgarian position in our defence not only in Belgrade and Brussels, but also here in Sofia".

Ivan Nikolov is a long-time active representative of the Bulgarian minority in Serbia. In 1990, he played a leading role in the founding of the Democratic Union of Bulgarians in Yugoslavia, serving as its secretary and spokesperson. Since 1997, he has been the founder and chairperson of the Cultural Information Centre of the Bosilegrad Bulgarian National Minority.