A forum was held at the BTA press club in Bosilegrad, provoked by the attempts to promote the so-called ''Shopi nation'' in the Western Outlands. MPs, diplomats and representatives of the academic community from Bulgaria took part in the discussion.

The Chairperson of the Committee on Policies for Bulgarians Abroad, Stoyan Taslakov, delivered donations to the Bosilegrad Cultural and Information Center and the Glas Press association and emphasized that Sofia should not remain indifferent to the issue of the so-called ''Shopi nation''.

MP Elisaveta Belobradova pointed out that the problems discussed at the forum are related to the need for a targeted policy toward Bulgaria's neighboring countries that belittle the Bulgarian minority on their territories.

"The problem is serious and the Serbian state itself is behind it", said Consul General of Bulgaria in Nis Dimitar Tsanev. ''There is an intensified process in the media, at scientific conferences and symposia. In general, there is a propaganda machine that is working seriously on the topic'', said Dimitar Tsanev.

• The "Shopi Nation", or how a Bulgarian ethnographic group becomes a Serbian "diagnosis"