Bulgaria had a lot to show related minority integration policies, Bulgaria's Labour and Social Policy Minister Emilia Maslarova said.

The country was an example of ethnic, religious and political tolerance, she said as quoted by Focus news agency.

Disaster Management Minister Emel Etem said that the government did a lot for the integration of the Roma-population in the past several years. Etem is head of the National Council on Ethnic and Demographic issues.

Bulgaria presided the The Decade of Roma Inclusion initiative from July 1 2006 to June 30 2007, Focus said.

Croatia, the Czech Republic, Macedonia, Hungary, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovakia also were taking part in the initiative aiming the provision of education, healthcare, work and accommodation improvement for the Roma-population of these countries.

Maslarova said that Bulgaria was doing a lot to prevent minority discrimination. Eighty per cent of the employment programmes in 2006 were directed towards the Roma-population, she said.