site.btaBTA Chief Proposes Making Complete Map of Bulgarian Landmarks Worldwide

Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) Director General Kiril Valchev came up with an initiative on Tuesday calling it Bulgarian Landmarks Worldwide. “It is about time we made a complete map of the places around the world associated with Bulgaria, with persons and events of Bulgarian history,” Valchev said in Belgrade. According to him, the map could commemorate distinguished Bulgarians who were born or died abroad, or spent a significant part of their life in other countries, and who may have made a notable contribution to the development of the host society. The map should show existing Bulgarian memorials and provide information about their condition and who is in charge of their maintenance.

Valchev announced his proposal on the day when a memorial plaque for Bulgarian revolutionary, writer and journalist Lyuben Karavelov (1834-1879) was unveiled on the wall of the Bulgarian Consulate in Belgrade. The formal ceremony was attended by Bulgarian Ambasador Petko Doikov, Sofia University Rector Georgi Valchev and Bulgarian National Television’s Panorama show host Boiko Vasilev.

The BTA chief went on to say that a plan should be drawn up for putting up new Bulgarian memorials abroad, with information about the necessary technicalities. “We amassed some experience here in Serbia. It took us more than six months to go through the required procedures,” Kiril Valchev said.

Proposals can come from various institutions, he suggested. For the purposes of the Bulgarian Landmarks Worldwide Initiative, it will be necessary to set up a council to standardize the criteria for the design of memorials, he said, adding that funding needs to be raised.

Valchev also spoke about Lyuben Karavelov’s important role in Bulgarian history, particularly as chairman of the Bulgarian Revolutionary Central Committee which coordinated the struggle against Ottoman Turkish rule. Karavelov was elected to head the committee at a meeting in Bucharest, which started 153 years ago on Tuesday.

The memorial plaque for Karavelov in Belgrade was initially put in the interior of the Bulgarian Consulate in November 2024. Placing it on an exterior wall required permission from the Belgrade authorities, which they eventually granted, and now the plaque can be seen from the street. Back in November, Valchev said that by mounting the plaque, BTA was fulfilling a duty to Bulgarian journalism.