site.btaBTA Director General in Dublin: Bulgaria Needs Bulgarians from Around the World to Return Home

Bulgaria needs the return of Bulgarians from around the world, Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) Director General Kiril Valchev said during a meeting with representatives of the Bulgarian community in Ireland, held at the Embassy of Bulgaria in Dublin on Sunday. Earlier in the day, he attended the festive Easter service at All Hallows Chapel on the grounds of the DCU Campus in Dublin, led by Western and Central European Metropolitan Anthony.

According to him, Bulgaria needs them because fewer people remain in the country – 2.5 million fewer compared to 35 years ago.

“We know it was not easy for them to leave Bulgaria, and those of us who remained in Bulgaria have probably too easily given them reasons to leave. We know that after the difficult process of settling abroad, it is hard to settle again in Bulgaria – BTA is already reporting on the opportunities for this in its ‘I Choose Bulgaria’ column and supports the ‘Bulgaria Wants You’ initiative. With its regular coverage of news from Bulgarian universities, BTA is also facilitating the return of young Bulgarians abroad as students,” Valchev said.

He added that the Irish themselves can serve as an example for Bulgarians in Ireland, as they have returned from emigration in at least two waves during this century, driven by the boom in the information technology sector, which Bulgaria is also currently experiencing.

“Because Bulgaria needs the knowledge and experience accumulated by Bulgarians around the world. But above all, we need the love for all things Bulgarian, which we saw today as well, on Easter, in the packed church in Dublin at the first Paschal liturgy in Ireland led by a Bulgarian Metropolitan – Western and Central European Metropolitan Anthony,” the BTA Director General pointed out.

He added that the return begins with knowledge about Bulgaria and knowledge about one another among Bulgarians both in Bulgaria and abroad.

Valchev presented information on how the Bulgarian community in Ireland is currently covered by BTA:

The Agency has published 427 items about Bulgarians in Ireland since the establishment, at the end of 2021, of a specialised BG World Directorate for news about Bulgarians worldwide. In 2022, there were 12 publications, in 2023 – 90, in 2024 – 143, in 2025 – 142, and since the beginning of 2026 – 40, suggesting that the total will exceed that of any previous year.

The information comes mainly from the four Bulgarian schools in Ireland, as well as from the two Bulgarian dance groups and the Bulgarian singer Gabriela Ivanova. For current events involving Bulgarians in Ireland, BTA also cooperates with the website “BG Chronicles”, established in 2025. He added that news from the “other Bulgaria” on the BG World platform serves not only to connect Bulgarians abroad with Bulgaria, but also Bulgarians from different countries with one another. Over five years, publications about Bulgarians around the world on BG World have increased from 243 in 2021 to more than 9,000 in 2025. Part of this connection is also the World Meetings of Bulgarian Media, at whose 21st edition this year Kiril Valchev said he hopes “BG Chronicles” will also be present.

In Ireland, which has a smaller population and territory than Bulgaria (around 5 million people and 70,000 square kilometres), there are as many Bulgarians as in a single Bulgarian city. According to estimates by the Bulgarian Embassy in Dublin, Bulgarians in Ireland number between 8,000 and 10,000, although in the 2022 census around 4,100 people declared Bulgarian as their mother tongue, noting that not everyone took part in the census. Meanwhile, the “Bulgarians in Ireland” group on the social network Facebook has 12,500 members. Most have arrived after Bulgaria and Ireland established diplomatic relations on July 11, 1990, and especially after Bulgaria joined the European Union. For comparison, around 90 cities – municipal centres in Bulgaria out of a total of 265 – have populations exceeding 10,000, according to National Statistical Institute data as of December 31, 2024. This means that Bulgarians in Ireland are comparable in number to the population of roughly the first one-third of towns in Bulgaria, Valchev noted.

He concluded his remarks by saying that “the moment for considering a return to Bulgaria for Bulgarians living in Ireland seems appropriate these days, when the difficulties caused by escalating road blockades in Ireland due to high prices and fuel shortages resulting from the war in the Middle East are proving greater than those in Bulgaria: ‘Proof that God sends trials to people wherever they may be in the world. But He also gives us joys, such as today, on the Feast of Feasts, when we glorify God in the highest with hope that He will grant peace on earth and goodwill among people,’” Valchev said.

Also in attendance were Bulgaria’s Ambassador to Ireland Vanya Andreeva-Malakova, Western and Central European Metropolitan Anthony, as well as Milen Mitev and Milena Milotinova, the directors general of the Bulgarian National Radio and Bulgarian National Television, respectively.