site.btaEurope on Balkans Conference to Take Place in Thessaloniki

A cross-border conference, "Europe on Balkans: Cohesion Skills "will take place in the second largest Greek city of Thessaloniki on Wednesday. It is organized under a Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) project supported by the European Commission. 

It will discuss the latest aspects of EU cohesion policy for the period 2021-2027 and the results achieved in the period 2014-2020. The main focuse will be on education, knowledge and skills and their relationship to the labour market, and young people.

The forum will be opened by BTA Director General Kiril Valchev. The event will be attended by the Chairman of the Board and Director General of the Greek news agency ANA-MPA Emilios Perdikaris, the Bulgarian Consul General in Thessaloniki Anton Markov, the Head of the Innovation Support Department of the Greek Region of Central Macedonia Maria Goulaptsi, Aphroditi Lioliou from the Managing Authority of Greece's European Territorial Cooperation Programme INTERREG, Prof. Grigorios Zarotiadis from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and President of Association of South Eastern Europe Economic Universities (ASECU)., Prof. Nikolaos Theodosiou, from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and President of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Networks (SDSN) - Black Sea, Asst Prof. Georgios Siakas from the Democritus University of Thrace, Assoc. Prof. Miroslav Terziyski and Asst Prof. Dr. Radostina Yuleva from the South-West University Neofit Rilski - Blagoevgrad, and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Desislava Serafimova from the University of Economics in Varna.

BTA's Europe on Balkans: Cohesion Skills project aims to raise public awareness and foster open dialogue about cohesion policy, local achievements, and the implementation of the EU's policy priorities. The project kicked off with a conference in Veliki Preslav in November 2024. The schedule of conferences until the end of September 2025 includes events in the following cities: Blagoevgrad, Burgas, Varna, Veliko Tarnovo, Vidin, Vratsa, Gabrovo, Dobrich, Kazanlak, Kardzhali, Kyustendil, Lovech, Montana, Pazardzhik, Pernik, Pleven, Razgrad, Ruse, Samokov, Svishtov, Sliven, Smolyan, Sofia, Stara Zagora, Troyan, Targovishte, Haskovo, Shumen, and Yambol. Cross-border conferences will be held in Belgrade, Bosilegrad, Bucharest, Edirne, Skopje, and Thessaloniki. The project builds on the Europe in the Balkans: A Common Future and Europe in Bulgaria: A Common Future projects, implemented by BTA in 2023 and 2024, respectively.