site.btaBTA to Unveil National Press Club in Athens

The Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) will open a National Press Club in the Greek capital Athens on Saturday. With this, BTA will have a permanent presence in the capitals of all neighboring countries, after correspondent offices with press clubs were opened in Skopje, Bucharest, Ankara, and Belgrade in recent years.

On the feast day of St Constantine Cyril the Philosopher, celebrated by the Bulgarian Orthodox Church on February 14, the new BTA press club in the Greek capital will be consecrated by Bishop Meletius of Znepol, Rector of the St. John of Rila Theological Seminary of Sofia.  

The press club will be opened by BTA Director General Kiril Valchev. 

The opening ceremony will be attended by Bulgarian Ambassador to Greece Valentin Poryazov, Prof. Georgi Valchev, Rector of St Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia, Bulgarian National Radio Director General Milen Mitev, Bulgarian National Television Management Board member Anton Andonov, NOVA Broadcasting Group Chief Operating Officer Vyara Ankova, ANA-MPA Board of Directors Chair Aria Agatsa, and Bulgarian Consul General in Thessaloniki Anton Markov.

An exhibition presenting the history of the Glagolitic script – the first Slavic alphabet created by St Cyril and St Methodius – and its significance for the spiritual and cultural development of the Slavic peoples will also be opened at the BTA Press Club in Athens. The exhibition includes archival photographs from events dedicated to the work of the enlighteners, images of medieval manuscripts, icons, and contemporary initiatives dedicated to literacy. Through documentary evidence and visual materials, the exhibition traces Bulgaria's role in preserving and spreading the Slavic literary tradition.

As of Saturday, BTA will have 44 press clubs. Of these, 27 are located in the regional centres of Sofia, Blagoevgrad, Burgas, Varna, Veliko Tarnovo, Vidin, Vratsa, Gabrovo, Dobrich, Kardzhali, Kyustendil, Lovech, Montana, Pazardzhik, Pernik, Pleven, Plovdiv, Razgrad, Ruse, Silistra, Sliven, Smolyan, Stara Zagora, Targovishte, Haskovo, Shumen, and Yambol. There are six press clubs in the non-regional cities of Gotse Delchev, Kazanlak, Petrich, Samokov, Svishtov, and Troyan. There are nine outside the country - in Ankara (Turkiye), Athens (Greece), Belgrade (Serbia), Bosilegrad (Serbia), Bucharest (Romania), Odesa (Ukraine), Skopje (Republic of North Macedonia), and Taraclia (Moldova), and at the Bulgarian Antarctic base on Livingston Island. Two press clubs are temporary - aboard the first Bulgarian naval research vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii (RSV 421) and the Book Fair.