site.btaBosilegrad Cultural Information Centre Chair Hails Region's Successful Fight against Karamanitsa Mine Opening

The Bosilegrad Cultural Information Centre Chair Ivan Nikolov attended the press conference marking the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) press club in Bosilegrad on Friday. “We can congratulate ourselves on a significant success achieved in recent days - that the Serbian Ministry of Mining and Energy has not granted permission for the opening of the mine in Karamanitsa, against which we have been fighting,” he said.

“The mine is a polluter that poses a significant threat to the environment, to people’s lives and health, and to the mountain rivers. It caused severe damage to nature during the years it operated as a pilot project, leaving harm to both nature and people,” Nikolov emphasized.

He noted that thanks to joint efforts - those of environmental organizations at local, national and European level - everyone can take pride in the achievements of civil society in Bosilegrad. “I believe this is the one thing we have managed to accomplish together, with the support of various organizations,” Nikolov added.

He recalled that pollution from the mine flowed into the Karamanicka River, which crosses the border with Bulgaria and flows into the Struma river, and from there towards Greece. “Thanks to the swift intervention of Bulgarian Consul General in Nis Dimitar Tsanev, an investigation was carried out and a court case was initiated in the Surdulica court,” Nikolov pointed out. He also highlighted the enormous and decisive role of the Balkanka Association and Dimitar Kumanov, who filed numerous complaints. Thanks were also expressed to Valentin Yanev from the Parliamentary Committee for Bulgarians Abroad.

“Stopping the pollution from the mines is crucial not only for protecting the Bosilegrad region but also for the areas in Bulgaria and North Macedonia that are close to them, for the health of our compatriots in the Bosilegrad area and for the future of the region,” Nikolov recalled.

“The problems in Bosilegrad are by no means few. I regret that changes could not be achieved at the national level which, in turn, might have driven changes at the local level. I must emphasize my deep concern that a large part of the young people have left in search of better places to live and work. Bosilegrad is ageing, weakening, and its prospects are not good,” said the Bosilegrad Cultural Information Centre Chair.

“I hope that, within the broader processes of democratization, a large part of Bulgarian society and the institutions in Bulgaria will become increasingly engaged with the problems and the survival of the Bulgarian minority in Bosilegrad and the Western Outlands,” Nikolov said. He stressed that BTA and the Centre have not only disseminated information but have also produced it. “Unfortunately, more of our information reaches the Bulgarian public sphere than the Serbian one, but it seems Serbian media are still not sufficiently open to what is happening here,” Nikolov pointed out.