Motorway to ensure that Sofia and Belgrade soon become the closest capitals in the region

At the joint press conference, held after a meeting between Minister Selakovic and Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva, she pointed out that this section of the motorway would be completed by the end of the year, while Serbia had already completed its part of the works.

Minister Selakovic thanked his Bulgarian counterpart for the support that her country provided to Serbia on its European integration path, and expressed hope that this support would continue. Minister Zaharieva said that Bulgaria would not change its position towards Serbia on that issue.

Asked why Bulgaria was one of the seven countries that last year prevented opening new chapters in Serbia's negotiations with the European Union, Zaharieva underlined that this was due to technical reasons, not political ones, pointing out that she knew from experience that it was less important how many chapters were opened than how many were closed in the right way. 

Serbian Minister pointed out that there was an excellent communication between the Governments of the two countries, which, as he said, dated back to the time when Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic was the country's Prime Minister.

In the same context, he recalled that President Vucic had good relations with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, and since he assumed duties of the head of state with President Rumen Radev as well.

"Frequent meetings and cooperation between the two foreign ministers should give impetus to all this", the Head of Serbian diplomacy emphasized reminding that a Serbian Foreign Minister did not pay an official visit to Bulgaria since 2014.

Selakovic also stated that our country had an understanding for Bulgaria's position on Kosovo and Metohija, which it had recognized, and emphasized that it was important for Serbia that the solution to this issue, it being the most important state and national issue to us, was sought through dialogue.

"What we are asking is to give the dialogue a chance and refrain from any moves that could be detrimental to the process of dialogue itself", the Minister underlined.

The Minister informed that, in the meeting, he discussed with his Bulgarian counterpart the promotion of cooperation between the two Ministries, the importance of launching and holding  political consultations between the two close neighbours, especially at the institutional level, as well as that efforts were underway to conclude agreements that were stalled pending realization.

The talks focused in particular on ensuring the highest degree of respect for the minority rights of the Bulgarian national minority in Serbia.

"We agreed to keep a direct line of communication open and talk to each other if a problem occurs, automatically having the issue dealt with at lower levels of competence, and to solve problems in the mutual interest", Selakovic pointed out.

He reminded that Serbia opened two departments of the Free Zone Pirot in two border municipalities where the Bulgarian national minority lived - Babusnica and Dimitrovgrad. The Minister said that they were about to be fully furnished in terms of infrastructure, and that he was convinced that they would provide an excellent opportunity and room for joint investments and the arrival of Bulgarian investors, as well as ensuring jobs to people living in those areas.

According to the Serbian Minister the Free Zone Pirot was named the best in Europe and third in the world two years ago, with enterprises and companies working within the zone recording a turnover of EUR 645 million in 2019.

When asked by a Bulgarian journalist why Prime Minister Borissov was not invited to the opening of the "Balkan Stream" on 1 January, Minister Selakovic pointed out that Serbia did not invite any foreign officials to the ceremony, due to the global situation amid the coronavirus pandemic.

He pointed out that Borissov was always a welcome guest in Serbia and that there would be many more opportunities to launch other infrastructure, joint projects in Serbia and Bulgaria.

Minister Zaharieva thanked Minister Selakovic for the visit carried out at her invitation, stressing the need that meetings between the two Foreign Ministers be held as often as possible.

"We have been connected for centuries and we have close pragmatic relations that remained close and dynamic even during the pandemic. We manage to realize infrastructure projects important for the entire region", Zaharieva emphasized.

She thanked Serbia for the good and swift response at the beginning of the pandemic, helping the Bulgarian citizens return to their country.

"The fact that we manage to preserve the dynamic of relations even in times of crisis demonstrates the sincerity of our good relations", said the Bulgarian Foreign Minister. She told the reporters that she agreed with Minister Selakovic to open a new border crossing between the two countries this year, in the Stara Planina (Balkan mountain range) area.

Speaking about the Bulgarian national minority, Zaharieva pointed out that it was another motivation for strengthening bilateral relations.

She assessed that Serbia had a good, modern legislation on minorities, and that she hoped that issues important for minorities would be resolved in good spirit.

Source: Tanjug