site.bta20th World Meeting of Bulgarian Media Opens on Saturday

The 20th World Meeting of Bulgarian Media organized by the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) began here on Saturday. Themed “Media and Knowledge,” the event was opened at the BTA National Press Club in Sofia by the Agency’s Director General, Kiril Valchev, and Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Bulgaria’s last serving monarch (1943-1946), who also inaugurated the meeting’s first edition in 2005. 

This year’s meeting will take place in a hybrid format in Sofia, the St Cyril and St Methodius Klisura Monastery, the town of Varshets (Northwestern Bulgaria) on Saturday and Sunday.

Invited to participate are Bulgarian journalists from 25 countries, including Bulgaria. Among the participants are 46 journalists representing 34 Bulgarian-language media outlets from around the world.

Speeches welcoming the participants were delivered by Vice President Iliana Iotova, Sofia Mayor Vassil Terziev, Minister of Tourism and founder of the first association of Bulgarian media abroad Miroslav Borshosh, parliamentary Committee on Culture and Media Chairperson Toshko Yordanov, and Committee on Foreign Policy Chairperson Yordanka Fandakova. 

The event features three discussion panels, two of which are scheduled for Saturday.

The first panel, titled “Culture in the Media,” was moderated by BTA’s LIK magazine editor-in-chief, Georgi Lozanov. Participating were Culture Minister Marian Bachev, Bulgarian National Radio Director General Milen Mitev, Prof. Amelia Licheva, head of Sofia University's Faculty of Slavic Studies and editor-in-chief of Literaturen Vestnik [Literature Newspaper], writer Georgi Gospodinov, Szvetla Kjoszeva, editor-in-chief of the Bulgarian-Hungarian lifestyle and culture magazine, Haemus, Diana Glasnova, editor-in-chief of the Rodna Rech magazine based in Croatia, Dimitar Stoyanovich, host of the Kultura BG programme on Bulgarian National Television, and Zhivka Milova, editor-in-chief of the electronic media outlet BG FACTOR based in Cyprus. 

In an address to the forum, Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov congratulated the participants on the Day of the Holy Brothers Cyril and Methodius, the Bulgarian Alphabet, Education and Culture, and Slav Letters. “Your previous meeting in Odesa demonstrated in a wonderful way your solidarity and sympathy for our compatriots and those suffering from the war, and I hope that this year's meeting will become an example of how every Bulgarian, wherever they are in the world, is important for our country and our society,” Zhelyazkov said. True information and knowledge empowers, makes you, the media, a factor that not only communicates but also shapes, educates and builds individuals, he added. 

Written greetings were also sent by Foreign Minister Georg Georgiev, parliamentary Committee on Policies for Bulgarians Abroad Chairperson Stoyan Taslakov, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences President Evelina Slavcheva, National Sports Academy Rector Prof. Krasimir Petkov, Burgas Municipality Mayor Dimitar Nikolov, Burgas Free University Rector Milen Baltov, Svishtov’s Dimitar A. Tsenov Academy of Economics Rector Marin Marinov, Sofia Medical University Rector Boycho Landzhov, Prof. Meriam Pashova, National Library Director Kalina Ivanova, Director of the Vasil Levski Bulgarian Sunday School in Katerini and Ierapetra, Greece, Doris Hernandez Dukova, President of the Alianza Bulgarian-Colombian foundation, and BGLOBAL MEDIA Manager Maxim Mayer, among others. 

Earlier in the day, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Communications Grozdan Karadjov and BTA Director General Kiril Valchev validated a commemorative postage stamp themed “The 20th World Meeting of Bulgarian Media”. 

BTA has been organizing World Meetings of Bulgarian media since 2005. This year’s forum is held with the support of A1, Aurubis Bulgaria, BGR Group Ltd., Geotechmin, Glavbolgarstroy Holding, Logistic Systems Ltd., the 13 centuries Bulgaria National Endowment Fund, SFA Automotive Ltd. (the official importer of Opel in Bulgaria), Postbank, Pachkov Ltd., and SOF Connect (the operator of Vasil Levski Sofia Airport).