Foreign minister Velislava Petrova met leaders of the Western Outlands Scientific Institute after Serbia refused to let Bulgarian citizens in, the foreign ministry said. Serbian authorities say they are a threat to national security.
Serbian authorities refused to let the institute's chairman, Assoc Prof Angel Dzhonev, into the country on Saturday, 10 October, and handed him a ban. He was on his way to an event marking 28 years since the Bosilegrad Cultural and Information Centre was set up.
See also: Valchev asks EU diplomatic service to act after Serbia bars Dr Angel Dzhonev
Dzhonev and Dr Valentin Yanev, a member of the management board, briefed the minister on the institute's work.
The ministry said the talks also covered the situation of the Bulgarian national minority in Serbia and the problems of Bulgarians living near the border.
Petrova told the two men that the Bulgarian state and the foreign ministry fully back the institute and its work. She said the issues they raised are being followed very closely and will remain a priority for the ministry.
On 12 October, MEP Ivaylo Valchev wrote to the European External Action Service about cases in which institute representatives were refused entry to Serbia.