Grand Mufti held a meeting with Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva

The Grand Mufti of Bulgaria Dr. Mustafa Hadzhi met with Ekaterina Zaharieva, Deputy Prime Minister and a Minster of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria.

The two parties focused within the meeting on their good cooperation in the work for caring about our compatriots abroad and the preservation of the culture and the spiritual values.

Minister Zaharieva expressed her satisfaction with the excellent cooperation and help which she meets in the face of the Muslim Denomination, as well as with regard to the tolerance and the good co-existence between the different religions in the country. The Minister of Foreign Affairs highlighted the role of the Muslim Denomination in the work for combating hate speech, racism and xenophobia and thanked for the efforts related to this, done on behalf of Grand Mufti’s Office.

The Grand Mufti also highlighted that against the background of the global crisis situations, there is no one Bulgarian citizen among the terrorist organizations around the world so far. With regard to this the Muslim Denomination in Bulgaria has the very important role in preventing a threat of violent nature and extremism.

At the same time both parties expressed their willingness and mutual interest in deepening these relations also in the field of their joint work with the Muslims with Bulgarian citizenship abroad.

Dr. Mustafa Hadzhi expressed also concern about the religious and cultural life of the Bulgarian Muslims abroad. During the meeting they both discussed topics related to the possibility to support the Bulgarian Muslims abroad as well.

The Grand Mufti thanked the Minister Zaharieva for the hospitality and before leaving presented a gift to her – the Bulgarian edition of the Holy Qur’an and the book “Islam against Violence”.