The official visit to Serbia of Dimitar Glavchev, Speaker of the Parliament, and the parliamentary delegation, began with laying flowers at Vasil Levski’s monument in Dimitrovgrad.

The first meeting of the Bulgarian MPs was with Vladica Dimitrov, mayor of Dimitrovgrad, and municipal councillors. It was also attended by Veroljub Arsic, Deputy Speaker of the Serbian Parliament.

At the talks, Dimitar Glavchev said that joint efforts were needed for the economic development of border municipalities and that our country would work together with the Belgrade authorities to deepen trans-border cooperation. He emphasised that the number of Bulgarian tourists in Nis, Belgrade, Bosilegrad and Dimitrovgrad was on the rise and this contributed to the progress of those municipalities.

Mayor of Dimitrovgrad Vladica Dimitrov said that surprisingly, tourism in recent years had turned out to be a main source of income for the local population and tourists were predominantly from Bulgaria. The peak period for tourist visits is from October to May and between 5,000 and 10,000 people visit the city per month, he said. In his words, the visit of the Bulgarian parliamentary delegation is a precondition for a good cooperation in the future. There has never been tension between Bulgarians and Serbs and we want to be the bond between the two countries, emphasised Vladica Dimitrov.

The rights of the Bulgarian national minority in Serbia were also discussed at the talks. Bulgaria has been making and will continue to make efforts to protect the rights and freedoms of the Bulgarian minority, said Dimitar Glavchev. He emphasised that the problems would be resolved in active dialogue between the two countries. In his words, Bulgaria and Serbia will continue to work on teacher retraining and creating the preconditions to enforce the rights of the Bulgarian minority, laid down the Serbian legislative system.

The Speaker of Parliament said that education should be a clear priority. As a positive step in this direction, he mentioned the printing of 26 textbooks to cater for the needs of schoolchildren from the Bulgarian national minority, and the pending printing of another 14 textbooks.

The Speaker of Parliament said that our country supported the integration of the Republic of Serbia in the European Union under the established criteria and requirements. Bulgaria is ready to give expert support and share its experience, if Serbia needs it, he added.

Veroljub Arsic, Deputy Speaker of the Serbian Parliament, said that Serbia was making great efforts and implementing a policy to make all citizens feel equal despite their religion or nationality. We are working to ensure that all citizens’ rights are respected, he emphasised.

After the talks in Dimitrovgrad, the Bulgarian delegation visited Neskov vrah and laid flowers at the Memorial Ossuary of the Serbian and Bulgarian soldiers who died in the Serbian-Bulgarian war.

Today the Bulgarian MPs will meet Mayor of Nis Darko Bulatovic, the regional governor, the chair of the municipal council, and MPs from the constituency. It is planned that Dimitar Glavchev will have talks with representatives of the Bulgarian minority at the Bulgarian Consulate General in Nis.

The members of the parliamentary delegation are Pavel Shopov, Deputy Chair of the Bulgaria-Serbia Friendship Group, Konstantin Popov, Tasko Ermenkov, Velislava Krusteva, members of the Friendship Group, and Gergana Stefanova, Chair of the parliamentary group of VOLYA political party.