site.btaGreece to Send Scientists to Antarctica for First Time, Bulgarian Antarctic Base to Host Them

Greece will send scientists to Antarctica for the first time. They will be part of the next Bulgarian expedition and will travel aboard the research vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril and Metodii, said in an interview with BTA the President of the NGO Hellenic Polar zone society, Simeon Konstantinidis, a retired officer of the Greek Navy with experience in oceanography and meteorology. He was a participant in the International Polar Conference for cooperation between the Balkan countries in the polar regions under the European programmes EUPolarNet-2 and POLARIN, held in Aheloy (on the Black Sea) during the weekend. 

"This is a big step for us towards the South Pole, as it is the first time Greece will send its own scientists. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Prof. Christo Pimpirev for giving us this chance and opening the doors of the Bulgarian base in Antarctica for us", said Konstantinidis. He added that their plans also include the construction of a meteorological station on the Ice Continent, which, however, will more likely take place next year.

One of the scientists who will travel to Antarctica with the Bulgarian ship this year is a professor from the University of Athens and is involved in astrophysics. He will make astronomical observations and measurements, Konstantinidis explained.

The second Greek scientist is a professor at the Technical University of Crete. She will conduct psychological tests for people who live in isolated places to check if they suffer from depression. Another experiment will be the use of specially created videos aimed at helping people in isolated environments feel better. During her stay, the researcher will also use a technique to measure people's magnetic performance under different emotions. 

Konstantinidis added that during the conference in Aheloy he learned how much Bulgaria has achieved and that it is many steps ahead in Antarctic science. "We would like to follow in Bulgaria's footsteps and learn from the country's experience," the President of the Hellenic Polar zone society said.

He also added that he has the ambition to visit the Ice Continent in the future, but for him now it is more important to coordinate the visit of Greek scientists there. "When they come back, we will learn from their experience and we will be able to organize more missions. We hope to be able to develop this cooperation among the countries of the Balkans and Europe and to have the possibility to send scientists from Greece every year. In this way we will be able to acquire know-how and in the future even build our own base there or cooperate with other countries like Bulgaria and share the scientific base, the instruments, the equipment. We will find a way, but the good thing is that we are neighbours, we are close and we can keep in touch more easily," Konstantinidis added. 

In the two-day forum in Aheloy, besides members of the Bulgarian Antarctic Institute, also participated representatives of the Alfred Wegener Institute, the Spanish Polar Committee, the Center for Polar Research of Poland, as well as representatives from Balkan countries such as Turkiye, Romania, Greece, Cyprus. Part of the programme was the presentation of the English version of the May issue of the LIK magazine, dedicated to Bulgarian scientific achievements in Antarctica. BTA plans to publish the issue in Spanish as well.