Speaker of the Parliament Dimitar Glavchev has communicated to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic today the request of the citizens of Dimitrovgrad to have the old name of their city, Tsaribrod, restored.

The Speaker of the Parliament told the President that a number of issues had been raised at the talks with representatives of the Bulgarian national minority. With regard to the name of Dimitrovgrad, they said there were two decisions of the municipal council on that, but they could not be implemented without a legislative amendment. President Aleksandar Vucic said that there was no problem to do it, if this was what people wanted.

Dimitar Glavchev also told the President that the citizens of Bosilegrad wished for the right conditions for attracting and retaining investors in the municipality. They said that a Bulgarian investor, who had provided 100 jobs with a potential for 250, recently left the city. President Vucic promised to continue seeking opportunities to attract investments to the region.

Another topic of discussion was the building of a road infrastructure. Aleksandar Vucic said that 12 km were left from the Sofia-Dimitrovgrad-Nis motorway and that it would be completed by May. It was mentioned that the motorway would foster the development of business and tourism in the region.

There was a discussion on how to facilitate access for tourists to Neskov Vrah, where the Memorial Ossuary of Serbian and Bulgarian soldiers who died in the Serbian-Bulgarian war is.

Part of the discussion at the meeting was devoted to the opportunities for cross-border cooperation between the North-Western region of Bulgaria and the South-Eastern region of Serbia, which are some of the most underdeveloped regions in the two countries. There was a shared opinion that common efforts were needed to change the situation, by using the whole range of financial opportunities and instruments. It was mentioned that the physical connection would be a natural continuation of the spiritual connection between the two nations.

The Speaker of the Parliament confirmed Bulgaria’s support for the European prospect for Serbia not only during the forthcoming Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU, but continuously, until Serbia’s accession to the Union upon fulfilment of all the criteria.