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Iliana Iotova: The Albanian Institutions Assured Me that Bulgarian Language Will be Studied in the Places Where There is a Compact Population of Bulgarian Origin

The Vice-president thanked Albania for including the Bulgarian minority in the adopted Law on the protection of national minorities

“I thank all Albanian institutions for including the Bulgarian minority in the Law on the protection of national minorities. This step confirms Albania’s determination to follow the good European practices and make progress in the Euro-integration process. I am convinced that the Albanian citizens of Bulgarian identity will contribute to strengthening the mutual trust and to the development of the friendly relations between our two countries.” This is what Vice-president Iliana Iotova told journalists in Tirana after holding meetings with Albanian President Ilir Meta, with Parliament Speaker Gramoz Ruci, and also with Prime Minister Edi Rama. The Vice-president is on a two-day visit to Albania.

At the talks held, Iliana Iotova pointed out that it is very important that the Bulgarian diaspora in Albania preserves its native culture and identity. “Today is an extremely important day for me because the President, the Parliament Speaker and the Prime Minister assured me that a mechanism and regulatory framework will be developed in the next six months for the application of the adopted Law on the protection of national minorities. This will guarantee to a great extent that all rights of the Bulgarian minority will be protected, as regulated under European law, and, as it was emphasized at the meetings, Albania has always treated its minorities this way,” Iliana Iotova was adamant.

The Vice-president further emphasized that we are at the beginning of a very long process and we have still a lot of work to do because it is for the first time that the Bulgarian national minority will enjoy these rights. “It was extremely important for me to get guarantees today that Bulgarian language will be studied at places with a sufficient number of children where the population of Bulgarian origin is concentrated. Mechanisms for including Bulgarian language in secondary school curriculums will be developed, not only in the weekend schools curriculums. These are the mechanisms we know from our education system so that the chain from studying in Bulgarian universities to the lectureship in Bulgarian at the University of Tirana will be closed,” Iliana Iotova said.

At the meetings held, opinions on a wide range of issues of bilateral interest and also of those on the European agenda were exchanged. Iliana Iotova’s position was that the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU provides additional opportunities not only for an efficient interaction on the issues topical for the region and Europe, but also for offering European prospects to the Western Balkans.

“Bulgaria is a friendly country both in historical and traditional terms and this friendship has been confirmed throughout all historical periods,” Albanian President Ilir Meta told journalists after the meeting held with Vice-president Iliana Iotova. He voiced contentment with the fact that it is namely Bulgaria that will take over the Presidency of the Council of the EU in 2018. 

“We consider this fact very important for the Balkans as a whole because Bulgaria, which has been an EU member state for ten years and as a country which is well acquainted with the life and problems in our region, will facilitate the progress of our region. We think that during its Presidency Bulgaria will do its best to present the European plan to the countries from the whole region,” Albanian President Ilir Meta further said.

Parliament Speaker Gramoz Ruci, for his part, said after the talks he held with Iliana Iotova that one of the important events in the past two months of parliamentary work is namely the adoption of the Law on the protection of national minorities. He pointed out that Vice-president Iliana Iotova showed a great interest in this issue since the respective law is in line with the EU recommendations and directives. It is the first time that Albania, with the adopted law, recognizes the Bulgarian minority together with the other minorities, Ruci said, and added that the Vice-president has shown an interest in the regions populated with a Bulgarian minority.

“On the eve of the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU, we largely rely on Bulgaria’s support and hope that during this Presidency the date for starting negotiations on Albania’s EU membership will be fixed,” Gramoz Ruci further said. In the talks held, he informed Vice-president Iotova of the concrete steps the Albanian Parliament has taken two months after it was convened regarding the reform of the judiciary and the amendments of the electoral code. 

The Vice-president commented that during the talks she held with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, she raised the issue of speeding up the process of establishing cultural and information hubs under an agreement the two countries signed, which, in her words, “has been reconsidered for a couple of years, because this is the natural place where our community, our associations will be able to teach our children history, Bulgarian traditions, where folklore festivals can be held, different performances can be organized, where exchanges could be arranged between the children from Bulgaria and the children of Bulgarian origin in Albania.” The Albanian Prime Minister also hailed the adoption of the Law on the protection of national minorities and expressed contentment with the forthcoming meetings Iliana Iotova will hold with representatives of the Bulgarian community from different regions in Albania.

In conclusion Vice-president Iliana Iotova said that the meetings she held today have to a large extent achieved the goal of her working visit.

The program of the visit later includes a meeting between the Vice-president and Albanian Assembly deputies who have contributed to the adoption of the Law on the protection of national minorities and also with Selim Hodzai, Bulgaria’s Honorary Consul in the Republic of Albania.

Later Vice-president Iotova will meet representatives of the Bulgarian community in Albania in the Bulgarian Embassy in Tirana.