site.btaUPDATED Regional Mayors from Bulgaria, North Macedonia Discuss Cross-border Cooperation

Regional mayors from Bulgaria and North Macedonia Thursday took part in a meeting of the Joint Working Group for the Interreg-IPA Cross-border Cooperation Programme 2021-2027 between the two countries. The forum, held in Sandanski (Sothwestern Bulgaria), was organized by the National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria (NAMRB).

Represented at the forum were 23 municipalities of Bulgaria and 27 municipalities of North Macedonia. A delegation of the Ministry of Local Self-Government of North Macedonia, led by Minister Goran Milevski, and Bulgarian Regional Development and Public Works Minister Grozdan Karadzhov also participated in the forum.

"Mayors and regional authorities are the bridge for cooperation between countries. Friendships, created on both sides of the border, are alive and despite some mayors being newly appointed, the partnerships remain", NAMRB Executive Director Silvia Georgieva said at the opening of the forum.  

Petrich Mayor Dimitar Bratchkov recalled that the Programme covers about 1 million people on both sides of the border.

Addressing the participants in the meeting, Prime Minister Kiril Petkov said that it is in both countries' interest that there be no borders, that there be connected infrastructure, that the mayors on either side of the border work together, and that there be businesses trading with each other and cultural events.  In his words, then all other problems, such as hate speech, will go away. If municipalities start working together, the Balkans will begin to develop, Petkov said.