site.btaUPDATED BTA Launches New Project on European Cohesion Policies of Bulgaria and Its Neighbours

BTA launches its new project Europe in the Balkans: Common Future on European cohesion policies of Bulgaria and its neighbours in the Balkans on Wednesday, BTA Director General Kiril Valchev said at the start of the opening conference in Sofia. The project promotes European cohesion policies in Bulgaria and the Balkans.

They are aimed at achieving the European Commission's policy objectives of supporting job creation, business competitiveness, economic growth and improving the quality of life of citizens.

The project, which starts on Wednesday, is a continuation of the previous one, Europe in Bulgaria: Common Future, in which BTA presented the European cohesion policies between the regions in Bulgaria itself, Valchev said. 

Valchev quoted European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Iliana Ivanova as saying that "We are already in the future". Her remarks came on Tuesday, when she visited the news agency to see BTA's new 30 electric vehicles car fleet and described BTA as an example for all public institutions with its totally electrified car fleet, he recalled. 

This is the future, but for now BTA will try to be in it only with its correspondents in Bulgaria, but not in the neighbouring countries. There the correspondents will use  hybrid cars because the Balkans are not yet in the future with the necessary infrastructure with fast charging stations for EVs. By the way, BTA's decision to go all electric in Bulgaria brings to light the difficulties facing electric mobility in our country - for example, the uneven distribution of charging stations in convenient locations - which our neighbours certainly face, Valchev said.

"The Balkans still have a lot to do for their proximity in purely physical terms in transport. There is still no railroad connection between Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia. Between Bulgaria and Romania there are only two bridges over the Danube, which are stalling under the weight of heavy traffic. There is no permanent year-round shipping link between Bulgaria and Turkiye in the Black Sea. At the borders with Greece there are often hours-long waits because of Bulgaria's non-admission into Schengen. The motorway between Bulgaria and Serbia is still being completed and there is not even talk of more motorways. Flights between Balkan capitals minutes apart by plane usually have to be with a stopover in Vienna, Frankfurt or Istanbul because there are no direct connections," Valchev added.

The Balkans are destined for a common future in Europe and the moment will surely come when not only BTA correspondents in Bulgaria, but also those in neighbouring countries start using fully electric cars after a temporary "hybrid" solution, the BTA chief said.

However, he said, information connectivity is now particularly important for the common future of the Balkans in Europe. "Because in this part of the world we often know better the past that has divided us than the present of our neighbours, through which the common future passes," he added. That is why BTA has put a lot of effort into establishing a permanent exchange of news with the national news agencies of the other Balkan countries and is already exchanging at least one news item every day with all Balkan agencies (and is about to sign agreements with the agencies of Serbia and Slovenia), Valchev explained.

BTA already has permanent correspondents in Skopje, Bucharest and Ankara, and will have one in Belgrade, hopefully early next year, and one to Athens. The agency also has stringers in Bosilegrad (Serbia) and Istanbul. The goal is to have BTA correspondents everywhere in the Balkans and national press clubs, which will be a media hub for meetings and events, he said. BTA also became the headquarters of the Association of Balkan News Agencies - South East Europe (ABNA - SEE) - the only international [media] organisation registered in Bulgaria so far. BTA also maintains the updated website of ABNA-SEE, which features one news story in English from each Balkan news agency member every day, Valchev recalled.

In his words, this is why it suits BTA to organise this joint project with the European Commission on the cohesion policies and the common future of the Balkans. Because for 125 years, the "B" in the agency's name has stood not only for "Bulgarian" but also for "Balkan".

"We will present how people see the effect of this policy, we will tell you interesting stories, we will show you the regions," said the project manager, Iliana Georgieva.