BTA Director General Opens National Press Club in Athens

Vanya Nakova, Filip Pavlov

BTA Director General Kiril Valchev opens a National Press Club of BTA in the Greek capital Athens, February 14, 2026 (BTA Photo/Milena Stoykova)

Athens, Greece,

14.02.2026 13:44

(BTA)

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BTA Director General Kiril Valchev opened a National Press Club of the Bulgarian News Agency in the Greek capital on Saturday. "We are unveiling the Press Club in Athens on a symbolic day for the relationship between Bulgarians and Greeks," he underscored, noting that the opening took place on the feast day of St Constantine Cyril the Philosopher, celebrated by the Bulgarian Orthodox Church on February 14.

St Constantine Cyril was born in Thessaloniki to a Greek father and a Slavic mother, Valchev recalled, noting that together with his brother Methodius they created the first Bulgarian script, the Glagolitic script. They also translated the sacred books for Christians into the language of the Thessaloniki Bulgarians, while their students in Bulgaria developed another alphabet based on it and named it after Saint Cyril, the Cyrillic script.

"Thus, thanks to Saint Cyril, Greeks and Bulgarians are forever connected by the wisdom of knowledge," Valchev emphasized, adding that is why special guests at the opening of the press club are Sofia University Rector Prof. Georgi Valchev, as well as Prof. Gencho Banev, Professor of Bulgarian language at the University of Athens. "By the way, here is the place to note that out of a total of 16,995 foreign students who studied in Bulgaria during the previous full academic year, most of them came from Greece, namely 3,277, meaning every fifth foreign student at a Bulgarian university is Greek", Valchev commented.

The media are called upon to bring knowledge about today, and BTA has been doing so for 128 years, Valchev stressed, pointing out that BTA's permanent correspondents such as Ivan Lazarov in Athens provide more information. He noted that the network of BTA's National Press Clubs is also a space for communication and events, giving the example of the exhibition dedicated to Saint Cyril the Philosopher, which opened at the BTA Press Club in Athens on Saturday.

Valchev stated that the BTA National Press Club in Athens is the 44th in Bulgaria and abroad and will be a home for all Bulgarian and Greek media with an interest in Bulgaria. "That is why we are glad that one of the guests of the opening today is Aria Agatsa, Chair of the Board of Directors of the National News Agency of Greece (ANA-MPA), with which BTA has had a contract for daily news exchange for five years", he noted, adding that the two agencies are also members of the European Alliance of News Agencies, the MINDS International - Media Innovation Network and the Association of Balkan News Agencies - Southeast Europe.

One of the truths that the media in both countries must clearly state is that Bulgaria and Greece are connected by many common things, Valchev stressed. "These are the common rivers and mountains, through which as part of the Schengen Agreement there are no longer any border crossings thanks to the common European Union, in which we now also have a common currency after Bulgaria adopted the euro," he noted, adding that these are also the paths for common business and energy resources, as well as the shared knowledge in universities and in science. Valchev gave the current example of the Greek oceanographers Dionysia Rigatou and Eleni Kytinou participating in the Bulgarian Antarctic expedition on Livingston Island.

Valchev also emphasized that Bulgaria and Greece are connected mostly by the people in both countries. "Therefore, the new BTA Press Club in Athens will also tell about the Bulgarians who contribute in many areas in Greece," the Director General said. He expressed special thanks to everyone who contributed to the opening of the BTA National Press Club in the Greek capital.

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.

/DS/