site.btaBTA Backs Historians, Public Figures in Appeal to Have Bulgaria's 1,400th Anniversary Celebrated in 2032

Bulgarian New Agency (BTA) Director General Kiril Valchev announced at BTA's national press club here on Wednesday that BTA is cooperating with a group of Bulgarian historians, archaeologists, and public figures to appeal for celebrations of Bulgaria's 1,400th anniversary to take place in 2032. The event was a part of the national initiative "14 Centuries of Bulgaria in Europe," organized by Bulgarian National Television (BNT), BTA, Bulgarian National Radio (BNR), and the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS).

Valchev said: "After celebrating the 1,170th anniversary of the creation of the Glagolitic script, the first Bulgarian alphabet, by the holy brothers St Cyril and St Methodius, BTA held a series of conferences together with the European Commission under the general title Europe in the Balkans: Common Future, focusing on cooperation in Europe in the fields of education and science."

He noted that at least two notable anniversaries will be marked in 2026 – the 150th anniversary of the April Uprising from 1876 that ultimately led to Bulgaria's independence from the Ottoman Empire, and the 1,080th anniversary of the death of Saint John of Rila, who is the heavenly patron of the Bulgarian people. BTA will mark the former with a forum in Ruse, on the Danube, mid-December 2025.

An appeal to celebrate the country's 1,400th anniversary has been signed by Prof. Alexander Nikolov of St Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia, Assoc. Prof. Andrey Aladzhov of the National Archaeological Institute with Museum at BAS, Assoc. Prof. Boni Petrunova of the National Museum of History, Prof. Georgi Atanasov of Dobrudzhanski Nauchen Institut [Dobrudzha Science Institute], Prof. Georgi Valchev of St Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia, Assoc. Prof. Georgi Georgiev of the Institute for Historical Studies at BAS, Assoc. Prof. Georgi Dimov of the Institute of Balkan Studies and Center of Thracology at BAS, Prof. Georgi Nikolov of St Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia, Prof. Daniel Vachkov of the Institute for Historical Studies at BAS, Assoc. Prof. Dimitar Gyudurov of New Bulgarian University (NBU), Prof. Dimitar Dimitrov of the St. Cyril and St. Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo, Prof. Dimo Cheshmedzhiev of the Cyrillo-Methodian Research Center at BAS, Assoc. Prof. Zhivko Lefterov of the Institute for Historical Studies at BAS, Assoc. Prof. Kiril Marinov of Uniwersytet Lodzki in Poland, Prof. Nikolay Kanev of the St. Cyril and St. Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo, Prof. Nikolay Ovcharov of the Dimitar A. Tsenov Academy of Economics in Svishtov, Assoc. Prof. Nikolay Hrisimov of the St. Cyril and St. Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo, Assoc. Prof. Petar Nikolov-Zikov of the NBU, Prof. Peter Stoyanovich of the Institute for Historical Studies at BAS, Prof. Plamen Pavlov of the St. Cyril and St. Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo, Prof. Roumiana Preshlenova of the Institute of Balkan Studies and Center of Thracology at BAS, Prof. Stanislav Stanilov of the National Archaeological Institute with Museum at BAS, Assoc. Prof. Stoyan Nikolov of the Rakovski National Defence College, Assoc. Prof. Todor Todorov of the Konstantin Preslavsky University of Shumen, and Assoc. Prof. Todor Chobanov of the Institute of Balkan Studies and Center of Thracology at BAS.

Among the attendees of Wednesday's news conference were BNT Director General Emil Koshlukov, BNR Director General Milen Mitev, BAS President Evelina Slavcheva and her predecessor, Academician Julian Revalski, and Sofia University Rector Stanislav Stanilov.