Boyko Borissov, Bulgaria's prime minister held a phone conversation with his Albanian counterpart, Edi Rama, reports the Bulgarian State News Agency. It is learned that Prime Minister Borissov demanded from Rama the respectation of the Bulgarian national minority rights in Albania, according to international legal standards. "The conversation took root in a law aimed at protecting the rights of minorities that was drafted by the Albanian government.
Borissov said he expects legislation to include the bill for protection of Bulgarian minority rights," the Bulgarian State Agency reports.
"Edi Rama assured the Bulgarian Prime Minister that the law is still being prepared and pledged that his country would not violate the interests of the Bulgarian minority. He stated that communication with Bulgaria would continue and that the Bulgarian interests in Albania would be protected," continues the announcement.Meanwhile, in the proposed draft and submitted to the relevant Parliamentary Commission by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmitry Bushati, no national Bulgarian minority is recognized in Albania. The issue seems not so simple.
The agency reports that there are moves of political actors in Bulgaria claiming rights for the Bulgarians of Albania.
MP Anton Donchev has requested at a parliamentary session that the issue of the Bulgarians of Albania to become a major state issue and a priority of the Bulgarian EU presidency during the beginning of 2018. According to this MP, the number of Bulgarians in Albania ranges from 50,000 to 100 000./Oculus News