site.btaParliament Unanimously Ratifies Agreement Granting UNESCO Status to Bulgaria’s Centre for Underwater Archaeology

On Friday, Parliament unanimously ratified, at first and second readings in a single sitting, the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on designating the Centre for Underwater Archaeology as a Category 2 institute under UNESCO, to be known as the Underwater Heritage Institute.

The agreement was signed on January 19, 2026, at UNESCO headquarters in Paris by UNESCO Director-General Khaled El-Enany and Bulgaria’s then culture minister Marian Bachev.

According to a report by Parliament’s Culture and Media Committee, the signing of the agreement and the designation of the Centre for Underwater Archaeology as a Category 2 institute under UNESCO for the Black Sea and Lower Danube regions strengthens Bulgaria’s position as a leading country in the field of underwater and world cultural heritage in the region.

The Underwater Heritage Institute will promote ongoing efforts to build expert networks, provide training for stakeholders involved in the protection of underwater heritage, and develop joint initiatives in Black Sea countries and other regions with which memoranda of understanding or cooperation agreements have been signed.

The institute is also expected to play a key role in advancing sustainable cultural heritage management, ocean research, and scientific cooperation.