"They don't like Rumen Radev in Belgrade, Belgrade has its own specific attitude towards him, because Rumen Radev, during one of his visits to our western neighbor as president a few years ago, raised the issue of returning the names of Bulgarians in the Western Suburbs to a grammatical plan.
Alexander Vučić and his clique don't particularly like this. They are in favor of preserving the status quo, of preserving the form "ich". So they don't like every attempt to look for an option to support the Bulgarians in the Western Suburbs.
This was said by the journalist from BNT and former correspondent for the Balkans and in Moscow Nikolay Krastev in the program "Metronome" on Radio FOCUS.
And he added: "You remember Radev's words while he was still president regarding Serbia and the rearmament that is taking place there, which gave a signal that Bulgaria was worried about what was happening militarily in the Balkans regarding Serbia and the sharp reaction that came from analysts close to Vučić and politicians from his ruling party. They declared themselves against Bulgaria, which, you see, with Croatia wanted to destroy Serbia, wanted to attack, and they accordingly prepared and armed themselves because of this, because they remembered what history was. But they don't remember the other part of the story - that they attacked Bulgaria in 1885, it wasn't the other way around, but that's how history reads things, whoever likes it in this case".
Nikolay Krastev says that Bulgaria has the desire to protect its compatriots in our western neighbor, who were forcibly separated from Bulgaria after the First World War, and that's why Belgrade doesn't like the former president. According to the journalist, Bulgaria should be much more active in this regard.
"Nothing prevents Bulgaria from working in this direction and within the framework of the European Union, within the framework of partnerships with other EU countries, it can safely work on this plan and influence the authorities in Belgrade to improve the financial situation of the people of this region first".
Some of the poorest municipalities are located there, and people are constantly leaving these areas, and representatives of the Roma community have come to replace them. The ethnic composition of this region is changing, he says.
And he adds: "This is something that should scare Bulgaria and our country should monitor it carefully, because in 20 years no one will be able to say what the ethnic ratio is inside Tsaribrod or Bosilegrad. In the areas that are dominated by Bulgarians, there should be a direct road built between the two centers in the Western outskirts, and not having to go from Bosilegrad to Tsaribrod through Bulgaria for a shorter and faster journey".
"Bulgaria can and has all the tools as an EU member to show Serbia that the protection of its fellow citizens in Serbia is an important priority in its Balkan policy. Now we have to see where these processes will go", Nikolay Krastev also commented.