Prime Minister Boyko Borisov held a meeting with His Holiness Patriarch Neofit and the Muslim Mufti of Bulgaria Dr. Mustafa Hadji. "Thank you for being here, as always, we have had one goal - Bulgarian citizens to be calm, everyone to confess their faith," the prime minister met with the patriarch and the chief mufti.

"The meeting was in the spirit of tolerance and understanding, we as citizens of this state have the duty to preserve the peace and tranquility in Bulgaria, which we have inherited from our fathers," said the chief mufti Mustafa Hadji after the meeting. Already on Saturday, the prime minister announced he had invited the two spiritual leaders to a meeting after heated debates in parliament over the remission of the Mufti's debts.

Today, Mustafa Hadji pointed out that the debts of a Mufti's office since 2005, and many of the liabilities, which according to expert estimates are over 8 million leva, are interest. Accumulated debts are old debts on which interest flows, the chief mufti explained, refusing to go into concrete terms. "It's a job of accounting, I'm not dealing with these issues, I do not want to say something that I can't properly explain," he said.

According to Mustafa Hadji, the revenues are too low, so debts are accumulated. In his words, the mufti's revenues are insufficient, because much of the estate was nationalized during the Communist rule and was not returned.

"Thank you for always responding to our needs and trying to be tolerant," said Bulgarian Patriarch Neofit during the meeting in the Council of Ministers. He expressed hope that the attention paid by the government on the subject would be beneficial to all denominations in the future.

The Prime Minister stressed that at meetings held with both the Holy Synod, the Patriarch, the Bishops, and the Mufti's office, it was very clearly stated what the purpose of the changes to the Religion Act was.

"For the Bulgarian faiths, for the Bulgarian denominations, the Bulgarian state to pay it is not an insult to the other countries," Prime Minister Borisov said. He specified that it would not be possible for foreign intelligence centers to work on the disintegration of our people.

"The goal was to put everything in a clean state, and then the state would pay for the respective creeds, and you, keeping the law, will keep your accountability accordingly." That is the purpose of the law, plus all the other things we came to, and a meeting at the Holy Synod, we talked, so I ask you to calm down the people and you that the deal has nothing to do in this case, "the Prime Minister was categorical.

During his conversation with the Patriarch and the Chief Mufti, the Prime Minister emphasized once again that the purpose of the law is a united state with certainty of the religious community, respect, tolerance. "We have done so many times - the bishop on one side, the Hodja on the other, each to read what they think and together to work for the unity of the state," Prime Minister Borisov also said.

"The patriarch and the mufti, while sitting together and speaking, can be peaceful about ethnic peace and tolerance, and that is important, we will do everything else," the prime minister said to the spiritual leaders.
 
 Against the decision, the Patriots in the Bulgarian parliament declared they are against debt forgivness, and the opposition suspected a deal between the MRF and GERB. GERB called for ethnic peace to be safeguarded. According to data from the Ministry of Finance, six denominations in Bulgaria have debts for BGN 8,267 million. Of them, most - over 8.2 million leva are in the Chief Mufti's Office.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!