site.bta15th World Meeting of Bulgarian Media Held in Tirana

Tirana, November 23 (Daniel Stoyanov of BTA) - Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) Director General Maxim Minchev opened the 15th World Meeting of Bulgarian Media in Tirana on Saturday morning.

The topic of this year's meeting, organized by BTA and the Association of Bulgarian Media Worldwide, was "Media and National Priorities".

"This is the fifteenth time that we have had the opportunity to discuss important issues related to our profession, to the Bulgarian media at home and worldwide, issues related to the future and the peculiarities of our trade and to what is going on in our country," Minchev said.

He read a greetings address from Bulgarian Culture Minister Boil Banov, and the Bulgarian Ambassador to Albania Momchil Raichevski greeted the participants on behalf of Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva.

Welcoming the participants in the media, Albanian Telegraphic Agency (ATA) Director General Armela Krasniqi expressed the hope that everybody will be able to discover Albania through its traditions, heritage and cuisine.

"The World Meeting of Bulgarian Media is an excellent platform to popularize achievements in various spheres, including tourism," said Deputy Tourism Minister Elena Georgieva.

"I can see the hand of fate in the fact that our 15th meeting is taking place in a sacred location, several dozen kilometres from where the Bulgarian letters, which are now used by 250 million people, were coined," prominent Bulgarian writer Anton Donchev said, addressing the event.

A documentary entitled "Buy Some Hope" (directed by Galina Kraleva) about Bulgarian artist of Albanian descent Lika Yanko was screened as part of the opening.

The proceedings were divided into six panels: "What Happened between the 14th and the 15th World Meetings?", "Bulgaria's National Priorities and the Way they Have Been Changing over the Three Decades of the Transition?", "Media and Politics: Media Influence on Political Choices", "Tourism and Infrastructure: Attraction Strategies", "Transformation of the Media Business Model after the Boom of Free Content", and "Media and Culture: Are Cultural Formats Dying?"

At an award ceremony held within the 15th World Meeting of Bulgarian Media, BG Voice Chicago received the traditional award for contribution to the dissemination of Bulgarian culture by a Bulgarian-language media outlet abroad. Editor-in-chief of BG Voice Chicago Yasen Darakov received the plaquette and monetary award from Georgi Lozanov, Governing Board member of the 13 Centuries Bulgaria National Endowment Fund, which initiated the award.

One reason why Albania was chosen to host the meeting is that between 60,000 and 170,000 ethnic Bulgarians live there (the number varies by source). The Bulgarian minority was officially recognized two years ago. There are Bulgarians in Elbasan (12,000), Tirana (4,000), Durres (over 3,000), Mala Prespa, Golo Brdo and Gora.

The 15th World Meeting of Bulgarian Media was organized with the support of G.P. Group, Fibank Albania, Nova TV and Large Informers Projects.

The previous world meetings of Bulgarian media were held in Sofia, Chicago, Rome, Madrid, Varna and Bourgas, Vienna, Amsterdam, Bucharest, Plovdiv and Veliko Turnovo, Bosilegrad and Caribrod (Dimitrovgrad), Athens, Prague, Chisinau and Skopje.