site.btaMayor of Serbian Village of Rakita Says Local Road Paved Thanks to Presidents of Bulgaria, Serbia

The biggest problem of the locals in the mountain village of Rakita (East Serbia) has been solved - it is the road from Zvontsi to Rakita, Dusica Sokolov, who is the Mayor of Rakita, told on Friday the FAR multimedia portal, which is in Bulgarian and Serbian . In her words, the road was paved thanks to the efforts of the presidents of Bulgaria and Serbia - Rumen Radev and Aleksandar Vucic. 

The 4 km-long road was fully paved this summer, and Sokolov told FAR's camera more about the solution to the problem.

Four years ago, a meeting was organised in Tsaribrod [Dimitrovgrad] between Vucic and Radev. "Our representatives were also there," Sokolov pointed out, adding that at that time the biggest problem of the local residents was the lack of a road. According to her, the President of Serbia promised back then that the road would be done and work on it started, but had to be suspended due to a landslide for some two years.

Sokolov said that she met Radev when he visited the restaurant of the Poganovo Monastery. Then the Bulgarian President promised to help with the road. A few months after that meeting, Dusica received a call from Radev and Vucic, who were in the US, and they confirmed their commitment to completing the road.

Speaking to the FAR team, the Mayor of Rakita expressed her gratitude to both presidents. She said that this cooperation should be an example for other institutions. "This is the only way to function - that we all work together and listen to each other's problems. I hope that it will be even better in the future - that we hear each other everywhere - both in Serbia and in Bulgaria," said Sokolov, who also explained that people in their region have dual citizenship. 

The villages of Rakita and Zvontsi are located in a region in eastern Serbia, known as the Western Outlands in Bulgaria, which has a large ethnic Bulgarian population.