Bulgaria supports the Bulgarians in Ukraine
05 March 2014 News
"Attracting all communities to the aspirations for democracy and European future would provide security, stability and European perspective to Ukraine," said the Foreign Minister Kristian Vigenin at his meeting today with the representatives of the Bulgarian community in Odessa. The Bulgarian Foreign Minister, who is on a two-day working visit to Ukraine, expressed confidence that the Ukrainian government will protect the rights of all minorities in the country.
Today at our Consulate General in Odessa, Minister Kristian Vigenin welcomed the opportunity to meet with our compatriots and noted that "his visit to the country is an expression of Bulgaria’s care and concern over the events in Ukraine and their impact on the Bulgarian community." He presented to the attendees the results of the talks with the new Ukrainian leadership and committed on behalf of the Bulgarian state to provide assistance in support of the stabilization of the country.
Minister Vigenin said he would introduce the competent institutions in Bulgaria with the current problems of the Bulgarians in Ukraine. In his words, the options for including Ukraine and especially the Odessa region in the projects of Bulgaria under the development cooperation are being considered. The question to shorten the deadlines for issuing visas to Ukrainian students from Bulgarian originwho are studying in Bulgaria, was raised, as well as the ability to send Bulgarian text books to the schools in the region. During the meeting, the Bulgarian community thanked the Foreign Minister for the commitments.
On the second day of his visit to Ukraine, Minister Vigenin held talks with the newly appointed President of the Odessa Regional State Administration Vladimir Nemirovsky. "The occasion of my visit to Ukraine is to express the solidarity and support of Bulgaria to the Ukrainian people and in particular to the Bulgarian community. For us it is important that the Ukrainian government assists for the inclusion of different ethnic groups in the normalization of life in the country," said Vigenin.
"Minister Deschitsa invited the Bulgarian experts to participate in the consultations on the drafting of a new law on state language policy in Ukraine, taking into account the interests of various ethnic groups and national minorities, including the Bulgarian community in Ukraine," said the Bulgarian Foreign Minister.
"The Bulgarian community in Odessa is fair and fully integrated part of the society," said Nemirovsky and expressed readiness to strengthen the economic ties between the pairing cities of Varna and Odessa.
Minister Vigenin was accompanied by Petko Doykov , Director General of the Bilateral Relations DG, Assia Davidova, Director General of the Political Affairs DG, and Gancho Ganev, Director of the Eastern Europe and Central Asia Directorate at the MFA.
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