The Lord Mayor of Leicester, Mrs. Mary Draycott said for Bulgarian Diplomatic Review magazine:

It is a great honor for me to be an honorary citizen of Haskovo. I am very happy and extremely proud of it. I looked forward to coming to this town, about which I've been hearing for years. Our relations date back to 2002, when the mayor of Haskovo visited Leicester and we met for the first time. He had his own ideas about the development of the town, but he needed the good experience, the existing practices to be encouraged in the completion of his tasks. Leicester was eager to share its experience and render assistance. This started the relations and contacts between our towns. A strong friendship evolved, which has strengthened through the years and I am sure it will continue in the future. It yields good results both for the citizens of Leicester and Haskovo.

I take special interest in the work with the minority groups. I am anxious to visit the school, where the computer laboratory has been equipped thanks to a donation from Leicester.

Within my one-year term as a mayor, I have also committed myself to the prevention of breast cancer. The morbidity rate at home is high. Many of our kids suffer from asthma. One way of raising funds to cope with these problems is charity. In this regard we share experience and ideas.

Today the borders are increasingly opening up. In fact, we are not so far away from each other.