WELCOME
Dear colleagues and guests,
It is an honour and a pleasure for  me to welcome you all to the 5th meeting of Serbian and Bulgarian astronomers!  During the last years, there is a major  development in the scientific collaboration between countries from the South-Eastern Europe and especially in the  field of  Astronomy. This important collaboration has resulted in the  establishment of the  Sub - Regional European Astronomical Committee (SREAC), which belongs to the European Astronomical Society. Both Serbia and MN and Bulgaria take  part in SREAC. The Institute of Astronomy of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences supports the regional collaboration in Astronomy. I believe, this is the best way for successful integration of  our astronomical communities into the European science. In the framework of our regional collaboration, two major joint projects received the support of  UNESCO.
This year we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the observing activities of  the National Astronomical Observatory -  Rozhen, which is still the biggest operational observatory in this region. It is my pleasure  to point out that  during recent years  many Serbian astronomers visited the  Rozhen NAO where joint observations were carried out. As a result, there are already a number of joint publications and we hope very much that this   collaboration will continue in the  future.
On behalf of the Institute of Astronomy,  I wish you all  successful meeting and new exciting results.         
K. Panov,
Director of the Institute of Astronomy,
 Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
Addresses to the Conference by
Z. Knezevic /video file/                                     M.S. Dimitrijevic, M. Tsvetkov /PPT file/ /PDF file/