Everything Starts and Ends with Information, Expats Agency Chief Says

Valentin Evstatiev, BTA special correspondent Nikolay Trifonov

Raina Mandzhukova, Director of the Executive Agency for Bulgarians Abroad, takes part in the 19th World Meeting of Bulgarian Media, Odesa, Ukraine, June 19, 2024 (Photo: BTA/Milena Stoikova)

Odesa, Ukraine,

19.06.2024 13:35

(BTA)

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"Everything starts and ends with information," the Director of the Executive Agency for Bulgarians Abroad (EABA), Raina Mandzhukova, said at the opening of the 19th World Meeting of Bulgarian Media on Wednesday.

The mixed-format event is taking place in the south of Ukraine and online. This edition of the BTA-organized meeting is mottoed "Media and Community". The physical part of the event is taking place in Odesa, Bolhrad and Izmail, which are home to large Bulgarian communities.

Repeated power outages during the opening session necessitated the use of a generator.

Mandzhukova said that the Bulgarian government needs information to be able to implement and develop its policies. The government needs to know what Bulgarians worldwide need, she added.

Discussing people's fears that holding such a meeting in Ukraine may be unsafe, Mandzhukova said: "It is all about empathy. The very fact of coming to Odesa is an expression of empathy. Empathy is what all Bulgarians in Ukraine need."

She noted that the World Meetings of Bulgarian Media are a way to let Bulgaria know what is happening with expatriates.

She commented: "Bulgaria is indebted to Bulgarian media abroad, but with our concerted efforts we will continue to work for clearing this debt with every passing year. We will continue to work for the recognition of Bulgarian media abroad as part of Bulgarian journalism and to make sure that they are supported by the Bulgarian government. This is not a promise but a firm intention."

Mandzhukova extended special thanks to three of the participants in the Ukraine meeting: Zhivka Milova, director of the Cyprus-based online news outlet BG Factor; Yasen Darakov, editor at US-based BG Voice; and Evgeni Veselinov, editor at BulgariCA, California, US. "These are three people from Bulgarian media abroad who have not been afraid to come to Ukraine for this meeting," she said.

Recalling that EABA was the first to organize a meeting of Bulgarian media back in 1995, Mandzhukova noted that the fact is generally forgotten. "This is an example that a good thing can be forgotten if there is no continuity." BTA has shown that things can happen if there is continuity, she said. "You [BTA] became a community, a force, and the Bulgarian state noticed your existence," she said.

BTA is organizing the 19th World Meeting of Bulgarian Media in Odesa, Bolhrad, and Izmail, Ukraine, from June 18 to June 21, 2024. The event is taking place with the support of Aurubis Bulgaria, A1 Bulgaria, Glavbolgarstroy Holding AD, Euroins Insurance Group, Postbank, SOF Connect, and the 13 Centuries of Bulgaria National Endowment Fund.

/NZ/