site.btaPresident Radev: State Should Create Stable Social Environment for Clergy

November 2 (BTA) - Meeting with Grand Mufti Mustafa
Hadzhi here on Friday, President Rumen Radev said that
regulating the activity of religious denominations in Bulgaria
should lead to the creation of a stable social environment for
clergy and institutions making a clear commitment to provide
them with fair salaries, the head of State's press secretariat
reported.  The meeting was held at the initiative of the Grand
Mufti's Office.

Radev stressed that the State covering the salaries of clergy in
 Bulgaria is an important step towards not allowing external
influences on the activity of traditional religious
denominations in this country.

The bills on religious denominations' activity should be
elaborated through constructive dialogue with representatives of
 traditional religious communities, Radev also said. Mustafa
Hadzhi underscored that the Grand Mufti's Office and the
Bulgarian Orthodox Church have common positions in this
dialogue.
 
Radev expressed support for the activity of the Grand Mufti's
Office aimed at the Muslim denomination in Bulgaria developing
on the basis of its own traditions. According to him, the
education of Muslim clergy should be carried out at their own
material base in accordance with Bulgaria's educational
standards.