Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov has suggested that Nessebar's status as a UNESCO World Heritage site will be cancelled.

"There is a real risk for the town of Nessebar to be excluded from UNESCO World Heritage list as a result of overdevelopment," warned Parvanov, cited by the Bulgarian daily newspaper Standart.

"Nessebar is being developed at too high rates. We cannot but worry when towns of concrete are built next to authentic cultural and historical sites. In such cases the state and the local authorities should be uncompromising," Parvanov continued.

Parvanov was speaking after opening a UNESCO International conference on Monday in Sofia. The ‘International Conference on the Safeguarding of Cultural Heritage and the Promotion of Cultural Diversity - a Response to Globalization' is part of the visit to Bulgaria of UNESCO's executive council members.

The executive council members will also visit sites in Bulgaria listed in the UNESCO World Heritage database, such as the Boyana Church, the Rila Monastery, the Kazanlak Thracian Tomb, Plovdiv's old town, Veliko Tarnovo and the village of Arbanassi.

The forum is organized by Bulgaria's permanent representation in UNESCO, the National Committee on UNESCO and the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture and was opened at the President's Boyana residence.

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