Bulgaria's Image before the World Discussed at The Fourth World Meeting of Bulgarian Media

Madrid, May 20 (BTA) - Tuesday discussions at the Fourth World Meeting of Bulgarian Media focused on the media strategies of the Bulgarian tourism and Bulgaria's image before the world.

"It is good that there are many ideas and innovative thinking. After all, this is an advertisement for Bulgaria," Simeon II National Movement (SNM) Leader Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha said during the discussions.

"The Cyrillic alphabet is a part of Bulgaria's cultural heritage and we can be proud of it," said State Administration and Administrative Reform Minister Nikolai Vassilev. It has become EU's third official alphabet. However, its different graphical system creates a number of difficulties for the people, using different alphabets, he observed. Vassilev presented his Ministry's initiative: Lost in Translation, which is a part of the Comprehensible Bulgaria project.

The Comprehensible Bulgaria project, launched by the State Administration Ministry and the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in 2006, aims to establish clear and firm rules for transliteration of Bulgarian proper names using the Latin alphabet. The adoption of a number of statutory acts already in 2006 made these rules binding. The Ministry does not plan to impose sanctions; it rather pays efforts to persuade the society that everyone is interested in the success of the project, said Vassilev.

National Tourism Board Chairman Krassimir Gergov presented a strategy for the development of golf tourism in Bulgaria as a modern destination. Bulgaria possesses a good combination of climatic and natural conditions so that this sport be practiced all the year round, said he.

National Vine and Wine Chamber Chairman Plamen Mollov, who is also SNM Floor Leader, presented the historical and cultural preconditions for the development of wine tourism in Bulgaria. The tradition of wine production, has been upheld for 3,000 years on Bulgarian land. Now, it has to be combined with agricultural, cultural and historical tourism, he said.

An increasingly higher number of young people go to study, work and live abroad and the media should write about their problems, said media expert Georgi Lozanov. He was speaking within a discussion: The Media and the Academic Emigration. 120th Anniversary of the St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia. The role of the young people has been increasing in today's globalized world and this is why the media should turn towards them, Lozanov stated.

"We will keep on raising questions concerning our national cause. We should tackle these issues because 2 million Bulgarians live outside Bulgaria borders and we should do our best that they remain Bulgarians," BTA Director General Maxim Minchev said at the end of the Fourth World Meeting of Bulgarian Media.

The meetings become ever more useful both for the media in Bulgaria and for the Bulgarian publications abroad, he noted. Participating in the Madrid edition of the World Meetings of Bulgarian Media were representatives of 15 Bulgarian media and 30 Bulgarian publications, based abroad.

Mtel is the general sponsor of the Forth World Meeting of Bulgarian Media. The event is organized with the support of Roca Bulgaria; Municipal Bank; Hisar; International Fair Plovdiv; Elen Hunting; Maritza East Mines; the Maritza East 2 Thermal Power Plant; Vinprom Peshtera, Dinevi Group; Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant; Glavbolgarstroy; Sofiiska Voda; KCM S.A.; Vagonoremonten Zavod 99; KPMGA.

Picasso Exhibition to Come to Bulgaria in December

Madrid, May 20 (BTA) - Bulgaria will witness a unique exhibition entitled "I am not looking for...; I have found: Pablo Picasso", organized by Baruh and Partners, the National Gallery of Foreign Art and mobile provider M-Tel. The exhibition is part of M-Tel's ambitious "World Culture" series, the company's CEO Josef Vinatzer and curator Emi Baruh said.

The exhibition is part of the complementary programme of the Fourth World Meeting of Bulgarian Media in Madrid. It is expected to come to Bulgaria in December, and will stay for three months. It includes representative works from all of Picasso's periods.

Mtel is the general sponsor of the Forth World Meeting of Bulgarian Media. The event is organized with the support of Roca Bulgaria; Municipal Bank; Hisar; International Fair Plovdiv; Elen Hunting; Maritza East Mines; the Maritza East 2 Thermal Power Plant; Vinprom Peshtera, Dinevi Group; Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant; Glavbolgarstroy; Sofiiska Voda; KCM S.A.; Vagonoremonten Zavod 99; KPMGA.

Bulgaria's Image before the World Discussed at The Fourth World Meeting of Bulgarian Media

Madrid, May 20 (BTA) - Tuesday discussions at the Fourth World Meeting of Bulgarian Media focused on the media strategies of the Bulgarian tourism and Bulgaria's image before the world.

"It is good that there are many ideas and innovative thinking. After all, this is an advertisement for Bulgaria," Simeon II National Movement (SNM) Leader Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha said during the discussions.

"The Cyrillic alphabet is a part of Bulgaria's cultural heritage and we can be proud of it," said State Administration and Administrative Reform Minister Nikolai Vassilev. It has become EU's third official alphabet. However, its different graphical system creates a number of difficulties for the people, using different alphabets, he observed. Vassilev presented his Ministry's initiative: Lost in Translation, which is a part of the Comprehensible Bulgaria project.

The Comprehensible Bulgaria project, launched by the State Administration Ministry and the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in 2006, aims to establish clear and firm rules for transliteration of Bulgarian proper names using the Latin alphabet. The adoption of a number of statutory acts already in 2006 made these rules binding. The Ministry does not plan to impose sanctions; it rather pays efforts to persuade the society that everyone is interested in the success of the project, said Vassilev.

National Tourism Board Chairman Krassimir Gergov presented a strategy for the development of golf tourism in Bulgaria as a modern destination. Bulgaria possesses a good combination of climatic and natural conditions so that this sport be practiced all the year round, said he. National Vine and Wine Chamber Chairman Plamen Mollov, who is also SNM Floor Leader, presented the historical and cultural preconditions for the development of wine tourism in Bulgaria. The tradition of wine production, has been upheld for 3,000 years on Bulgarian land. Now, it has to be combined with agricultural, cultural and historical tourism, he said.

An increasingly higher number of young people go to study, work and live abroad and the media should write about their problems, said media expert Georgi Lozanov. He was speaking within a discussion: The Media and the Academic Emigration. 120th Anniversary of the St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia. The role of the young people has been increasing in today's globalized world and this is why the media should turn towards them, Lozanov stated.

Mtel is the general sponsor of the Forth World Meeting of Bulgarian Media. The event is organized with the support of Roca Bulgaria; Municipal Bank; Hisar; International Fair Plovdiv; Elen Hunting; Maritza East Mines; the Maritza East 2 Thermal Power Plant; Vinprom Peshtera, Dinevi Group; Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant; Glavbolgarstroy; Sofiiska Voda; KCM S.A.; Vagonoremonten Zavod 99; KPMGA.

Purvanov: "World Meeting of Bulgarian Media Becomes Established as Emblematic Event in Bulgarians' Cultural Calendar"

Madrid, May 19 (BTA) - "This forum is more than an ordinary media event. Slowly but steadily, it is becoming an emblematic event established in Bulgaria's cultural calendar," Bulgarian President Georgi Purvanov said, addressing the participants in the Fourth World Meeting of Bulgarian Media, which opened in Madrid on Monday.

Purvanov said that when the State, politicians, media and the people are united, even around small causes, they are powerful. "This proves that we can stand strong when we are united," Purvanov said.

"If we look at the media present here, if we try to put on the world map the Bolgrad Secondary School, Taraclia University, schools in Central Europe and overseas, cultural and educational centres and associations, we will get a huge, culturally powerful San Stefano Bulgaria because, in the context of globalization, it is not territory but the spirit that is the key concept, the motive force of a nation's development," Purvanov said.

He recalled the successful campaign for the rescue of the Bulgarian medical workers sentenced in Libya. "We were united - the institutions, the authorities, civil society, the media - we all worked in one direction, we had a national cause," Purvanov said.

The President called on the media to provide more coverage in Bulgaria of the activity of patriotic organizations and individuals abroad.

It is usually politicians who get coverage, while there are much more important things that can be covered and can form a basis for a new national self-confidence. Purvanov said his every trip abroad included a meeting with Bulgarians and a conversation about what the State can do. He noted that the forum is taking place amid a debate in Bulgaria, which may be reverberating abroad - a debate about the parameters of a new strategy and state policy towards expatriate Bulgarians. He mentioned important suggestions, such as the setting up of a special fund to help organizations, initiatives and projects of Bulgarians abroad, and the launch of a special programme to encourage "the involvement of our compatriots in activities in Bulgaria".

The President also stressed the need to rethink the statutory framework, from the Bulgarians Resident Outside the Republic of Bulgaria Act down. "Many other laws should be amended; as part of this, the flaws of our policy should be openly highlighted and our mistakes should be criticized," Purvanov said.

He expressed hope that the forum would be a step forward in the effort to project Bulgaria's authentic image because the Bulgarian media around the world are the best possible ambassadors. "A few weeks ago the President of the European Commission said something I will never forget: The first year of Bulgaria's membership in the EU is a success story," Purvanov said. He called on the Bulgarian media to be critical and to act as a corrective, and at the same time to give due attention to things that strengthen the national self-confidence - "things mentioned by Bush, Sarkozy and many other European leaders, who visited Bulgaria".

The Bulgarian President said Sofia's success in the debate about the spelling of the euro in Bulgarian showed that Bulgaria is an authoritative EU member, whose position is respected when it is well argued.

Purvanov thanked Madrid's Mayor, saying that Spain was a logical choice of venue, with some 140,000 Bulgarians living there.

Addressing the participants, Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, leader of the Simeon II National Movement and former prime minister, said all Bulgarians who live in Madrid want Bulgaria to prosper, which "is possible if we all strongly want and work for this".

"I am confident that the forum will again do its job and that in addition to professional objectives, it will also concentrate on Bulgaria's national causes," BTA Director General Maxim Minchev said at the opening.

Madrid Mayor Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon said more than 30,000 Bulgarians live in the Spanish capital and around it, and contribute to the development of the city and of bilateral relations.

The speakers noted the role BTA and its Director General Maxim Minchev were playing in helping the world meetings of Bulgarian media acquire a national significance.

After the official opening of the forum at Madrid's City Hall, the Bulgarian President and his wife Zorka Purvanova had luncheon with King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia at the Zarzuela Palace.

The first panel discussion was on the subject "Bulgaria Between the Two Meetings: What Has Happened?" "Every successive meeting of the Bulgarian media is better and more fruitful, and ever more media join in," media expert Georgi Lozanov said. He noted that the critical motivation of Bulgarian media has subsided during the past year.

The publishers and editors-in-chief of Bulgarian media at home and abroad, who spoke at the panel, were unanimous that the "You Are Not Alone" campaign in support of the Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death in Libya was one of the best achievements of Bulgarian journalism in Bulgaria and abroad in 2007.

The participants in the meeting representing Bulgarian media abroad called for more active cooperation and interaction with the media in Bulgaria. The media people who took part in the discussion expect online journalism to make steady progress.

The clip of the Bulgarian Symbols National Campaign was press-launched at the Fourth World Meeting of Bulgarian Media in Madrid on Monday. Violeta Ivanova of the Bulgarian Association for Business and Tourist Information said that over 229,000 Bulgarians had voted for 33 symbols (11 each in three categories: culture and history, nature, and food) by May 16. The campaign is due for completion in mid-June, when one global symbol will be chosen.

The meeting ends on May 22.

Mtel is the general sponsor of the Forth World Meeting of Bulgarian Media. The event is organized with the support of Roca Bulgaria; Municipal Bank; Hisar; International Fair Plovdiv; Elen Hunting; Maritza East Mines; the Maritza East 2 Thermal Power Plant; Vinprom Peshtera, Dinevi Group; Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant; Glavbolgarstroy; Sofiiska Voda; KCM S.A.; Vagonoremonten Zavod 99; KPMGA.