site.btaEurope and the World Foundation Celebrates Website's 10th Anniversary

The Europe and the World Foundation celebrated the 10th anniversary of its website with an event at Sofia's The Mission Gallery on Thursday organized in cooperation with the State Institute for Culture with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the foundation reported.

Snezhana Yoveva-Dimitrova, Director of the State Institute for Culture, emphasized the successful cooperation established between her institute and Europe and the World. The chair of the foundation, poet and long-time journalist Gergina Dvoretzka, recalled that its activities are aimed at promoting achievements in literature, art, culture, education, and science, as well as their connection to business. She emphasized that over the years, hundreds of articles on cultural events have been published on the foundation's website.

In her welcoming speech, the guest of honour, Morocco Ambassador to Bulgaria Zakia El Midaoui, praised the cultural activities organized by Europe and the World, as they strengthen the ties between Bulgaria, Europe, and the rest of the world every day.

Excerpts from books published by Europe and the World were read during the celebration. Poets Georgi Slavchev and Gergina Dvoretzka recited their poems, while Vladimir Dvoretzki recited a poem dedicated to Sofia by New Zealand poet Kevin Ireland.

Young composer Mario Yotsov performed his own composition, as well as pieces by Andrey Stoyanov and Isaac Albeniz.

The foundation presented partnership awards. Among the laureates were translator Zdravka Mihaylova, the State Institute for Culture, the City of Vienna International Offices in Sofia headed by Irina Simova and run by Hrabra Marinova and Jassen Panov, the Association of Teachers of and in French in Bulgaria headed by Vyara Lyubenova, the Reading Sofia Foundation headed by Todora Radeva, the Association of Spanish-speaking Journalists in Bulgaria headed by Georgi Mitov.

Zakia El Midaoui was bestowed with the Ambassador Building Bridges Award for her long-standing cooperation with the foundation and in recognition of her overall contribution to communication and partnership between different cultures. She also received a ceramic panel depicting a woman in traditional Bulgarian dress as a gift. The Ambassador shared that that she was wearing traditional Bulgarian dress when she visited the village of Momchilovtsi, Southern Bulgaria. She added that she is planning to write a book about Bulgaria.