The Bulgarian national minority is the largest in the municipality of Bosilegrad. That statistic also includes Roma who live there, but do not want to be Bulgarians anymore.
Through the mountains and lakes on the way to Bosilegrad in the extreme south of Serbia, on the border with Bulgaria. Small place, narrow streets, several cafes, several shops and municipal buildings. Villages scattered around the hills. Two kilometers away is the settlement of Lalos. According to locals, it is the largest ghetto in southern Serbia. Roma live here.
Some of the 300 residents of Lalos live in tin containers, and some in houses, but without water, baths and sewers, many without electricity.
Bosilegrad has about 7,000 inhabitants, mainly the Bulgarian national minority.
Vladimir Zahariev is the president of the municipality of Bosilegrad. He says that he does not see that there is a problem with the residents of Lalos and lists everything that the municipality has done for the settlement. Regarding the census, he says that the locals of Lalos even asked him how he would declare himself: "They could declare themselves as they wished. There are as many as seven or eight Eskimos in Bosilegrad. This means that they too can express themselves as they wish. They asked me: "How will you declare yourself President?", And I said: "I am a Bulgarian, all my great-grandparents are Bulgarians." Then they shouted: "We are Bulgarians too", says Zahariev.
And then he adds more officially: "At the next census, it would be good for our neighbors, with whom we have been living all these years, to declare themselves as Roma, as we declare ourselves as Bulgarians. Let them declare, but literally everyone if they want as Roma. Together with them, as we have lived so far, we will live even better. "We will work on projects together and we will have a better chance to get projects in Europe if they declare themselves as Roma," Zahariev is sure.
Roma activists from Serbia claim that in Serbia Roma are used for various manipulations. In addition, it is stated that, according to the data, there are between 400,000 and 500,000 Roma in Serbia, while officially the Statistical Office writes: 148,000 Roma. According to them, this difference is a consequence of numerous manipulations, among which he states the prevention of closing schools in the villages, but also much more serious things.
