site.btaParticipants in 19th World Meeting of Bulgarian Media Meet with Bulgarian Community in Izmail, Ukraine

Participants in the 19th World Meeting of Bulgarian Media, organized by the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) in Ukraine, met with representatives of the Bulgarian community in the town of Izmail. According to the local authorities' data from the last census, about 11% of Izmail's residents are representatives of the Bulgarian community.

"I am extremely happy that BTA Director General Kiril Valchev organized and successfully held the 19th Meeting of Bulgarian Media in Odesa, Bolhrad and Izmail. At the beginning of my mandate I had promised myself to be very close to you and I try to work close to you, to our diaspora," Svetoslav Ivanov, Consul General of Bulgaria in Odesa, told the audience. In his words, the Bulgarian national minority in Ukraine should feel proud because Bulgaria is helping Ukraine.

"Bulgaria is Ukraine's biggest friend at the moment. This should make you proud and happy," he noted.

Bulgaria's Consul General in Odesa called on the local Bulgarians to use their native language more often. "By preserving the language, culture, traditions, you have preserved the Bulgarian national identity. If you step back and take a step back, in 200 years there will be no Bulgarians, no one to talk about. Use your language, teach it to your children. If this link is broken, we lose ourselves as an identity. Your ancestral Bulgaria is behind you," he said.

BTA's Director General Kiril Valchev talked about the first days of the forum. "We delivered a lot of news reports about the bomb shelters, the missile and drone attacks, the unclear direction of the planes that took off. The impression in Bulgaria is of a scary place with no holidays. Let's be honest, in Odesa we saw streets of young people, under the sound of generators because of the power cuts. In Odesa we were also at a concert. True, it was interrupted because of another air raid, but then it went on and a Bulgarian star performed, a Bessarabian Bulgarian. Today in Bolhrad we saw children who, while hiding in the bomb shelter, dream of Bulgaria, of studying at a Bulgarian university," he said.

Making a reference to one of the musical performances at the celebration, he remarked: "Now we are here and we are being sung to during a celebration. In fact, that is why we have to tell the story, because many people are afraid to come, to be with the Bulgarians here. So let's raise a glass to the Bulgarians here."

"I am tired of crying while I am here and not out of grief, but out of pride. Out of pride for our Bulgarians. Pride for how our Bulgarians can persevere in difficult times, and pride for how our Bulgarians welcome guests, especially when these guests are from Bulgaria," said the head of the Executive Agency for Bulgarians Abroad, Rayna Mandzhukova, during the meeting with the Bulgarian community.

She urged Bulgarians abroad not to be embarrassed to speak Bulgarian.

"This was one of my dreams - for Bulgarian media to come here and see our Bulgarians, it came true today thanks to Kiril Valchev. We have all the prerequisites to move forward and to do everything possible for the Bulgarians in Bessarabia to remain Bulgarian," Mandzhukova added.

On Friday, the World Meeting of Bulgarian Media will continue with a discussion in Izmail on the topic "Science and Universities as Appearing in Bulgarian Media".

BTA organizes the 19th World Meeting of Bulgarian Media in Odesa, Bolhrad and Izmail (Ukraine) from June 18 until June 21, 2024 with the assistance of Aurubis Bulgaria, A1 Bulgaria, Glavbolgarstroy Holding, Euroins Insurance Group, SOF Connect - the operator of Sofia Airport, 13 Centuries Bulgaria National Endowment Fund.