Bulgarian PM, Patriarch and Grand Mufti discuss the Religious Denominations Act

Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Boyko Borissov met with the head of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Neophyte, and with the Grand Mufti of Muslims in Bulgaria, Moustafa Hadji, on 11^th of March to discuss the writing off of the debts of religious denominations in Bulgaria.

The meeting takes place after the Parliament approved amendments to the Religious Denominations Act on first reading on 8th of March with intention to grant an amnesty for overdue financial liabilities of religious denominations, including nearly 8 million BGN of debt of the Grand Mufti’s Office.

The Holy Synod and the Grand Mufti's Office support the Religious Denominations Act adopted at the end of last week. This became clear after today's meeting with the Prime Minister.

Patriarch Neophyte, on his part, defined the meeting as very fruitful and urged to be good and tolerant to each other. "We thank Prime Minister Borissov for his good attitude towards the religious denominations,”he sadi.

Moustafa Hadji said it was important to preserve ethnic peace. The Grand Mufti went on to say that the debt of his office had been incurred since 2005 and much of it was interest on outstanding liabilities. The revenues of the Grand Mufti's Office are not enough, he said, because a large part of what were once waqf foundation properties were nationalised under the former communist government and were not returned.

During the meeting Prime Minister Boyko Borissov told the two spiritual leaders that only the Law of Religious Denomination can intercept external influence by financing the various religious denominations in our country. He urged them to observe the law once it is passed and to pay their debts in the future.