"I don't think that Bulgaria’s NATO entry poses any danger to Russia, but we would not like to see NATO getting nearer our borders," Russian State Duma member and former Russian prime minister and foreign minister Evgenii Primakov said in his lecture on “Russia in the 21st Century. Foreign Policy Priorities. The New Dimensions in Russian-Bulgarian Relations." He expressed optimism about the future of Bulgarian-Russian relations despite their ups and downs. Commenting the situation in the Balkans he failed to share such optimism. “I am not very optimistic about the future of the Balkans,” Evgenii Primakov, said on the Bulgarian National Radio. In his opinion long-lasting stabilization in the Balkans and Kosovo is out of the question since the population there is marked by its ethnicity – Albanian, while the Serbs have been driven out. According to Primakov this has tipped the balance and will not lead to a truce, rather the opposite. Russia’s former Prime Minister predicted that the emergence of separatist tendencies in Kosovo, which is unacceptable for the international community. On February 25 at a special ceremony at Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski Primakov was awarded the title of honorary doctor. Today is one of the most important days in my life, Primakov said upon receiving the award.