PM Borissov Talks with Albanian Counterpart Edi Rama

Prime Minister Boyko Borissov has talked with his Albanian counterpart Edi Rama on the telephone. Borissov said Bulgaria insists that Tirana should guarantee the rights of the Bulgarian national minority in line with the international legal standards. The conversation was prompted by a bill aimed to protect the minorities’ rights drafted by the Albanian government. Borissov said he expected the legislation to include provisions protecting the rights of the Bulgarian minority. Rama assured the Bulgarian Prime Minister that the bill was still under preparation, and pledged that his country would not infringe on the interests of the Bulgarian minority. He stressed that communication with Bulgaria would continue so that the Bulgarians’ interests in Albania would be protected. Andon Donchev MP of the Volya party read out a declaration in Parliament urging that the cause of Bulgarians in Albania become a real priority of the State and one of the top policies during Bulgaria’s EU Council Presidency in the first half of 2018. He said that different sources put the number of people of Bulgarian origin in Albania in the range of 50,000 to 100,000.