site.btaBulgarian Consulate General in Odesa Holds First-Ever Meeting on Education with Bulgarian Community Representatives

Nearly 40 representatives of the Bulgarian community in Ukraine participated in a meeting on education, the rights of the Bulgarian national minority and Bulgarian Sunday schools in Ukraine, organized by the Consulate General of the Republic of Bulgaria in Odesa. "Only together we are strong and only together we can succeed and survive in the next 200 years in Ukraine," Bulgarian Consul General in Odesa Svetoslav Ivanov addressed the beneficiaries of the Native Language and Culture Abroad national programme and Council of Ministers decree No.90 for the Bulgarian Sunday Schools abroad of the Bulgarian Ministry of Education, directors of state schools with Bulgarian students, teachers of Bulgarian language, heads of education departments, and mayors of municipalities in the Bulgarian villages in Bolhrad, Izmail, Belgorod-Dnestrovsky districts, Odesa, as well as the settlements of Olshanka and Pervomaysk.

"For the first time in the history of the Consulate General, such a meeting is organized and held with the representatives of the Bulgarian community, who care and work for the education of the children of Ukraine and the children of Bulgarian origin. The idea of this meeting is to hold a free conversation with you on the issues of education and the rights of national minorities, on the legal framework that defines the rights of national minorities and the right to study their mother tongue - Bulgarian. These are the National Minorities Act and the Education and New Ukrainian School Reform Act," said Ivanov in his welcoming speech. 

"You see that global processes and changes are taking place all over the world, both in the EU and in Ukraine. Our reading of the laws and regulations in Ukraine is that they are very nice and they sound good, but there is a definite enforcement problem on the ground," the Consul General noted. For example, according to the National Minorities Act, there is a State Office for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience, which holds regular meetings in Kyev, with the participation of representatives of national minorities and the Bulgarian one as well. According to the law, there should also be regional councils for national minorities under the regional administrations, through which financial support for these minorities should be implemented," Ivanov said.

He noted that at meetings held with representatives of the Odesa regional administration, they were told that such a council had existed since the time of the old law, but half of its members were already gone and others were too old, which in practice means that this council does not work in favour of national minorities under the 2023 law, Ivanov argued.

"The law provides for financial support on the basis of the principle of competition, which is not productive, because it will pit one national minority against another. On all these nuances, the Consulate General has prepared its analyses and proposals, which we have provided to Bulgaria and together with the other EU Member States (Poland, Hungary and Romania) will be raised with the state leadership of Ukraine to find solutions," the Consul General said.

In his opinion, another important point is the ongoing reform in the field of education according to the Education and New Ukrainian School Reform Act. 

Bulgaria continues to support the NGOs that are beneficiaries of the Native Language and Culture Abroad national programme and Council of Ministers decree No.90, he said and pointed out that there were 5 implemented projects in 2024, compared to 7 projects in 2023, which were mainly focused on the field of education. "Through the public organizations Bulgaria also supports the Ukrainian schools, where children of other nationalities are educated besides Bulgarians. Under these projects, modern equipment, computers, laptops, interactive whiteboards, sound systems, etc. are purchased, equipping modern technological classrooms," Ivanov summarized.