An opening conference of the Europe in the Balkans: Together through Knowledge project, implemented by the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) with the support of the European Commission, took place on National Awakeners' Day in the northeastern town of Veliki Preslav.
The conference was opened by BTA Director General Kiril Valchev and attended by Yordanka Chobanova, head of the European Commission's representation in Bulgaria, archaeologist Prof Kazimir Popkonstantinov, Veliki Preslav Mayor Yanko Yordanov, and Catalin Radoi, the Romanian Embassy's Deputy Head of Mission, among many others.
"During these three years, BTA implemented four European projects and participated in three others that are being implemented," Valchev said at the opening of the conference. He noted that "together" is present in the name of the new project because "Together for the EU" was the Bulgarian motto of the European elections in 2024.
The opening of the project in Preslav, the second Bulgarian capital, on National Awakeners Day, sends three key messages, Valchev said. First, knowledge is the basis of cohesion. That is why the project will present the shared knowledge and skills through which the peoples of Europe become closer.
Valchev explained that the presentation of such places is part of the idea of "14 Centuries of Bulgaria in Europe", a joint initiative of BTA, the Bulgarian National Television and the Bulgarian National Radio, for the celebration of remarkable anniversaries in Bulgarian history, which are significant to the common European history, until 2032, when it will be 1400 years since the establishment of the first Bulgarian state entity on European territory, Old Great Bulgaria, in 632.
Valchev commented that knowledge is at the heart of cohesion and therefore the project will present the common knowledge and skills through which the peoples of Europe come closer together. One of the strategic goals of BTA is precisely knowledge, aimed at providing a wealth of real information about the world to Bulgaria and about Bulgaria to the world. He added that Media and Knowledge will be the theme of the 20th World Meeting of Bulgarian Media, which BTA is planning to organize in Sofia on May 24, 2025.
For the sake of more knowledge about Bulgaria's neighbours, BTA has put a lot of effort into establishing a permanent exchange of news with the national news agencies of neighbouring Balkan countries, exchanging at least one news story with all Balkan news agencies every day. BTA has also been the headquarters of the Association of Balkan News Agencies - Southeast Europe since 2022. Valchev emphasized that all efforts of BTA for better knowledge between neighbours in the Balkans are part of the policy of Bulgaria, which dedicated its first presidency of the EU Council in 2018 to the EU enlargement in the Western Balkans.
The second message is that cohesion is a mutual process, Valchev said. "It cannot be bought with money, as it sometimes seems when some talk about 'absorbing' European cohesion funds. Therefore, in this project emphasis will be placed not only on the EU funds received by Bulgaria and the other Balkan countries, but also on the Bulgarian and, in general, the Balkan contribution to Europe," he said. He noted that the most striking example of the Bulgarian contribution to Europe is the Cyrillic alphabet, which is the third alphabet in the EU and features on the European currency.
"But everything that the Bulgarians and any of their neighbouring nations in the Balkans create, produce and sell is also a contribution to the European economy," he added, stressing that Bulgaria's greatest contribution to Europe and the rest of the Balkan countries is its people. He noted that enabling people to stay in the Balkans, instead of moving to Western Europe and thus freeing up the East European territories for Asians and Africans, is in Europe's interest; this is also the point of the EU funds.
Valchev said the third message is that smaller settlements in Bulgaria should be supported. He noted that it is much easier to organize such conferences in Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna or Burgas, but Europe has no interest in making Bulgarians move to a few big cities and leave cities like Veliki Preslav, which was a capital of the First Bulgarian Empire. "Therefore, the EU funds and the national budget of Bulgaria should be invested more in places like Veliki Preslav, that is why conferences like this have a place here," he said.
"The battles of the world are increasingly becoming about the minds of people, not territories. And in the battle for the truth, news agencies like BTA are very important. In general, the media are important, which, unlike those who write on social networks, bear responsibility. Because they give people true knowledge about what is happening today," Valchev stressed, concluding that Europe should invest in the knowledgeable person, who is the most valuable for European civilization.
The main objective of the Europe in the Balkans: Together through Knowledge project will be to provide objective and comprehensive information and an accurate overall picture of the European Union's cohesion policy in all Bulgarian regions. Special emphasis will be placed on skills and knowledge as an engine for regional development.
As part of the project, in the period from November 2024 to September 2025, BTA will organize discussions in its regional press clubs in the following cities: Blagoevgrad, Burgas, Varna, Veliko Tarnovo, Vidin, Vratsa, Gabrovo, Dobrich, Kazanlak, Kardjali, Kyustendil, Lovech, Montana, Pazardzhik, Pernik, Petrich, Pleven, Plovdiv, Razgrad, Ruse, Samokov, Svishtov, Silistra, Sliven, Smolyan, Sofia, Stara Zagora, Troyan, Targovishte, Haskovo, Shumen and Yambol. BTA will also hold cross-border conferences in Belgrade, Bosilegrad, Bucharest, Edirne, Skopje and Thessaloniki. At least 70 articles, short videos, infographics and animated infographics will be published under the project. A social media campaign is also part of it. The project is worth EUR 269,712.76.
The project is a continuation of the Europe in the Balkans: A Common Future and Europe in Bulgaria: A Common Future projects, implemented by BTA in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
