site.btaBulgaria in UNESCO: July Issue of LIK Magazine Published in Three Languages - Bulgarian, English, and French

The July edition of LIK magazine, published by the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA), is dedicated to Bulgaria and UNESCO. For the first time, the issue has been released simultaneously in three languages—Bulgarian, English, and French.

The theme was chosen in connection with the 47th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, held in Paris from July 6 to 16, 2025, with Bulgaria providing financial support as the designated host.

The premiere of the issue will coincide with the session’s programme. On July 7, the magazine will be presented at UNESCO headquarters in Paris by BTA’s Director General Kiril Valchev. LIK’s editor-in-chief Georgi Lozanov and his interlocutors will join the event via video link from the BTA headquarters in Sofia. Other BTA national press clubs across the country and abroad will also participate.

In his foreword in the issue, Kiril Valchev says that the magazine is “a fitting face of Bulgaria at UNESCO as the country presides over the 47th session of the World Heritage Committee at the organization’s headquarters in Paris”. “The name of the magazine, published by the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) – Bulgaria’s national news agency – is an acronym formed from the Bulgarian words for “literature”, “art”, and “culture”. At the same time, the word lik in Bulgarian means “face”. In a similar way, UNESCO represents the face of cooperation among nations in the fields of culture, education, and science,” he says.

Valchev notes that among the 168 countries with sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List, Bulgaria ranks 33rd, with 10 sites – a distinction shared by only two other nations. This is a significant recognition for a country of Bulgaria’s size, he comments. These include seven cultural and three natural sites, along with nearly a dozen traditions recognized as intangible cultural heritage. Together, they are also a very good reason to visit and stay longer in Bulgaria, adds Valchev.

In the issue, Minister of Culture Marian Bachev emphasizes Bulgaria’s dedication to inclusivity and fairness on the global cultural map as a member of the World Heritage Committee. “The year 2025 is one of symbolic and meaningful intersections – marking the 80th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), institutions that place cultural heritage at the heart of global peace, sustainable development and intercultural dialogue,” Bachev says. “In this exceptional context, Bulgaria has the honour and responsibility to preside over the 47th Session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee at the organization’s headquarters in Paris. This event is not only an international recognition of the richness and significance of Bulgaria’s cultural and natural identity but also a reaffirmation of our consistent commitment to the preservation, promotion, and transmission of the world heritage to future generations,” he adds.

Elena Shekerletova, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chair of the Bulgarian National Commission for UNESCO underscores that preservation of cultural and natural world heritage is a responsibility that makes UNESCO one of the most recognizable organizations both in Bulgaria and globally. “The meaning and significance of preserving cultural and natural heritage for Bulgarian society has fuelled growing interest in UNESCO’s work, made the Bulgarian National Commission for UNESCO a recognizable and sought-after partner, and stands as one of the most valuable achievements of our cooperation with the organization,” she adds.

Among the contributors to the issue is Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director General between 2009 and 2017. She reflects on the organization's 80-year legacy: “At every critical juncture in history over the past 80 years, UNESCO has served as a global platform for intellectual debate - promoting partnerships, stimulating knowledge creation, and launching new ideas. This is how the concept of World Heritage and the set of cultural conventions, education for all, knowledge-based societies, respect for cultural diversity, support for cultural policies and the creative economy, and series of documents and standards in ethics, in science, climate change, and now artificial intelligence, were born,” she says. “As Director General of UNESCO for eight years, I witnessed first-hand the transformative power of multilateral cooperation in education, culture, and science in reshaping societies and the world,” Bokova adds.

Also featured is Alexander Savov, a career diplomat with postings at Bulgaria’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations (UN), as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Korea, and as Permanent Delegate of Bulgaria to UNESCO (UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) in Paris. He worked at Bulgaria’s National Commission for UNESCO and was head of the campaign supporting Irina Bokova's election as Director General of UNESCO (2009–2017). “In the public mind, UNESCO is often perceived primarily as an organization focused on culture, particularly in relation to the preservation of tangible and intangible cultural heritage. In reality, however, its mission is far broader, playing a strategic role in addressing key societal challenges in the fields of education, natural and social sciences, cultural cooperation, the protection of human rights, ethical and moral principles, and the safeguarding of human dignity and fundamental freedoms,” Savov explains.

In a LIK interview, Prof. Nikolay Nenov, Chair of the 47th Session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, says that Bulgaria has proposed to the international community sites with cultural dimensions that are significant for all humanity. “Cultural heritage inscribed on UNESCO’s list is our own choice and responsibility. We have declared to the world that a given site meets specific criteria and has exceptional universal value. Membership in this global organization obliges us to uphold our resolve and to work according to standards that aim at both the preservation and presentation of the relevant site and its broad interpretation for a diverse audience,” he underscores.

This issue does so by presenting the ten Bulgarian listings on the UNESCO World Heritage List – seven cultural and three natural: the Boyana Church, the Madara Rider, the Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak, the Thracian Tomb of Sveshtari, the Rock-Hewn Churches of Ivanovo, the Rila Monastery, the Ancient City of Nessebar, the Srebarna Nature Reserve, Pirin National Park, and the Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of Central Balkan National Park (as part of the transnational UNESCO listing of the Carpathian and Other Regions of Europe).

The magazine also features Bulgaria’s elements inscribed on UNESCO’s lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage – the songs and dances of the Bistritsa Babi, the Nestinarstvo firedancing ritual, Chiprovtsi carpets, the Surva festival in the Pernik region, the Koprivshtitsa Festival of Folklore, the Bulgarian community center (chitalishte), the Martenitsa tradition, Visoko multipart singing from Dolen and Satovcha (Southwest Bulgaria), and the proposed inscription of the Bulgarian bagpipe and bagpiping tradition.

The edition also describes the work of the National Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage – a specialized unit within the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IEFSEM-BAS). Its mission is the comprehensive documentation, preservation, and promotion of folklore traditions, as well as the related records necessary for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage.

A thematic chronology illustrates how UNESCO has appeared in the news coverage of the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) since the mid-20th century. BTA’s archives show that the earliest reports about UNESCO date back to just a few years after its establishment. Over the years, Bulgaria’s role in UNESCO’s history has grown, and reports on the organization’s activities have appeared more often in BTA’s newsletters and bulletins.

The issue concludes with a look at other Bulgarian sites that deserve UNESCO World Heritage recognition – including two prehistoric settlements: the Varna necropolis, where the world’s oldest processed gold (over 6,000 years old) was found, and the Salt Works near Provadia, dating back some 7,600 years. It also features the Episcopal Basilica in Plovdiv, the oldest city in Europe, and Bulgaria’s three medieval capitals – Pliska, Preslav, and Tarnovo.

Since January 2024, LIK magazine is freely accessible online. All issues from its relaunch in 2022 until now can be downloaded in electronic format from the BTA website.

The Bulgaria in UNESCO issue of LIK magazine is available at:

https://www.bta.bg/bg/lik-magazine/54 (in Bulgarian)

https://www.bta.bg/bg/lik-magazine/53 (in English)

https://www.bta.bg/bg/lik-magazine/52 (in French)