BTA Director General Presents Opportunities for News Distribution from Bulgarian Schools, Churches in Chicago

Tatiana Marinova

St Sophia Bulgarian School principal Daniela Mihaylova (left) and BTA Director General, Chicago, May 20, 2026 (BTA Photo)

Chicago,

20.05.2026 08:25

(BTA)

Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) Director General Kiril Valchev presented the agency’s opportunities for distributing news from Chicago's oldest and largest Bulgarian schools and the two Bulgarian Orthodox churches. On Sunday, Valchev visited Chicago and greeted the Bulgarian community in the city during the fifth Bulgarian Parade, organized to mark May 24, the Day of Saints Cyril and Methodius, the Bulgarian Alphabet, Education and Culture, and Slavic Literature.

Valchev visited the first Bulgarian school in Chicago, St Sophia Bulgarian School, which was founded in 1976 and is marking its 50th anniversary this year. He met with the school’s principal, Daniela Mihaylova. He also met with the Little Bulgarian School principal Zhivka Petrova, Little Bulgaria Center Artistic Director Konstantin Marinov, and Bulgarian Sunday School Parents Council Chair Zhaneta Lukov.

Valchev also visited the two Bulgarian Orthodox churches in Chicago. At St John of Rila Bulgarian Orthodox Church, he met with Father Kiril Kirilov, and at St Sophia Bulgarian Orthodox Church, with Father Ivan Malinov.

Bulgaria’s Consul General in Chicago Svetoslav Stankov also took part in the meetings.

“Bulgaria wants to know more about the success of Bulgarians in America, because it has many reasons to be proud of them. That is why I am in Chicago not only to greet the Bulgarian Parade for May 24, but also to urge Bulgarians to provide even more information about their life there. Bulgaria is, in fact, learning more and more about Bulgarians in Chicago, the largest ‘Bulgarian’ city outside Bulgaria, with likely around 100,000 Bulgarians, who account for one third of all Bulgarians in the US,” Valchev said at the Bulgarian Parade.

He said that in the five years since Bulgaria’s national news agency set up its special section for Bulgarians abroad, BG World, in 2021, BTA has published 3,063 news items about Bulgarians in the US. Of these, 1,363 (nearly 45%) were about Bulgarians in Chicago. “This means that every day in Bulgaria we have at least one news item about Bulgarians in Chicago, which is actually the source of every third news item about Bulgarians in the US. We gather this news from their associations, Sunday schools, churches, folklore groups and prominent figures. The Consulate General of Bulgaria in Chicago is also a valuable source of information about Bulgarians in the city,” Valchev said.

He stressed that Bulgarians in America help Bulgaria even without living there. “They also made a major contribution to DARA’s Eurovision victory and proved that Bulgarians around the world can be a great force, because Bulgaria received the highest number of 12 points from audiences in countries which do not participate in Eurovision but have the right to vote. Thus, Bulgaria’s song won by the largest margin over the runner-up in the history of the contest,” the BTA Director General said.

Valchev recalled that exactly 20 years ago, for May 24, BTA, on the initiative of Director General Maxim Minchev, brought together in Chicago 30 Bulgarian media outlets from 14 countries for the Second World Meeting of Bulgarian Media. In 2025, these meetings reached their 20th edition, when 70 Bulgarian-language media outlets from 25 countries met in Sofia. They are also an important source of news about Bulgarians around the world.

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