site.btaBulgarian Deputy Foreign Minister Meets Journalists from Leading Serbian Media Outlets

Deputy Foreign Minister Ivan Kondov met Monday in Sofia with visiting journalists from leading Serbian media outlets, the Foreign Ministry said on its website. The Serbian journalists are visiting under a project supported by the EU Delegation in Belgrade.

Kondov expressed commended the initiative for this first get-to-know visit by Serbian journalists to Bulgaria in recent years. He recalled Bulgaria's position in support of Serbia's EU integration. He stressed that reaching a comprehensive and legally binding agreement on the full normalization of relations between Serbia and Kosovo is of key importance for the security, stability and prosperity of the entire region, especially given the complex geopolitical context. 

He told the journalists that Bulgaria would like to see more support for the Bulgarian minority in Serbia and that their country is expected to do more to counter Russian propaganda and have proactive strategic communication to present the EU's multi-dimensional support in an objective way.

Kondov pointed out that Serbia has traditionally been one of the priority countries for Bulgarian Official Development Assistance (ODA). For the 2016-2020 period, it reached BGN 2.8 million, which is about EUR 1.4 million and represents 40% of Bulgaria's total ODA to the Western Balkans. For the 2021-2023 period, 29 projects were approved with a total value of about EUR 661,000, which have been implemented or are in their final stage.