site.btaYes, Bulgaria to Insist on Government Fulfilling Its Commitments to Bulgarians in Taraclia

MP Ivaylo Mirchev, Co-chair of the Yes, Bulgaria party within the Democratic Bulgaria coalition, said that his party and he himself will put pressure on Bulgarian institutions to fulfill their commitments and accelerate projects already underway for Moldova's region of Taraclia, where Bulgarian communities live. He made this commitment during talks at the Taraclia District Council building with Chairman Lazar Dermenji, Deputy Chairpersons Sergei Filipov and Andrei Baltakov, Foreign Relations Office head Stepan Karamalak, Tvarditsa Mayor Georgi Popov, and representatives of key administrative structures, Mirchev's party said in a press release on Friday.

Later, Mirchev also met with the Director of the Taraclia branch of the Angel Kanchev University of Ruse, Alexander Borimechkov, as well as with leaders of Bulgarian communities and public figures from the region. Mirchev said that next week, MPs from Yes, Bulgaria will submit a parliamentary question to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs asking why there is a delay in the disbursement of funds for the already approved project to build a sports field at the high school in Taraclia.

Mirchev also said that on Monday, he would ask Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov about the progress of his initiative for a government programme to finance visits by children from the Taraclia region to Bulgaria. 

According to the MP, Yes, Bulgaria will actively engage as a mediator between the Ministry of Culture and the institutions and civil society organizations in Taraclia. During his visit, our compatriots complained that the Ministry of Culture has no programmes to support Bulgarian communities in the form of festivals, museum work, and other initiatives to promote Bulgarian culture. Meetings will be organized with the Minister of Culture and representatives of Yes, Bulgaria to discuss a mechanism for financing cultural events abroad organized by the Bulgarian diaspora. The goal is for new generations to remain close to their native culture.

The party will also help speed up the dialogue between the Bulgarian community in Taraclia and the Bulgarian Ministry of Defence about the Olimpi Panov House Museum in Taraclia.

"We must maintain contact with Bulgarian communities outside Bulgaria," Mirchev told a BTA reporter after his meetings in the Taraclia region. He recalled that he had been in Taraclia three years ago, in the first year of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. "I have a serious commitment to Bulgarians in Moldova. Together we must look to Europe and Bulgaria, we must strive for Moldova to be in the EU so that the Bulgarian community here can live better and its connection with Bulgaria is not lost,“ said the Yes, Bulgaria Co-chair, underscoring that this is a task for all Bulgarian politicians from all parties.