The great challenge for the Western Balkans is to integrate and share resources, Prof. Miglena Temelkova, Council of Rectors Chair in Bulgaria and Rector of the University of Telecommunications and Post, stated during the cross-border conference as part of BTA's Europe on Balkans: Cohesion Skills project. The conference took place at the BTA National Press Club here on Friday.
"Just as Europe has its educational alliances, we can also create educational Balkan alliances to share resources", she emphasized, adding that in the Balkans, the future within the framework of European education policy is to share resources among themselves, namely from different universities from different Balkan countries. "Only in this way will we achieve convergence in the field of education between those who are already EU members and those who are about to join the EU," she said.
She also pointed out that in this way the region will arrive at the idea in which borders will no longer need to exist and people can talk about a common educational space.
In Bulgaria, more and more universities are maturing for the philosophy that a university cannot independently provide interdisciplinary training to its students, said Temelkova. She noted however that communication between Bulgaria and Serbia in the field of education is reduced to the most general and most often to the Erasmus programme, even though Bulgarian higher education institutions are sought after by their Serbian partners for the production of academic staff and the defense of doctoral dissertations.
In recent years, interdisciplinary educational products have been particularly valuable in Europe, Temelkova emphasised. These are specialties that integrate knowledge and skills, competencies in different fields, she said, adding that the interdisciplinary trained specialist is the person of the future.
In Bulgaria, the first interdisciplinary trained engineers will graduate from the Sofia University of Telecommunications and Post in 2026, she said, pointing out that many Bulgarian universities have such interdisciplinary specialties under EU programmes and that there is also an open programme for such specialists at the Education and Science Ministry, which many Bulgarian universities benefit from. "This is one of the policies that can be integrated in Serbia, in universities that are willing to develop in this direction," Temelkova emphasised.
BTA's Europe on Balkans: Cohesion Skills project aims to raise public awareness and foster open dialogue about cohesion policy, local achievements, and the implementation of the EU's policy priorities. The project kicked off with a conference in Veliki Preslav in November 2024. Until September 2025, BTA will host discussions at its press clubs in the following cities: Blagoevgrad, Burgas, Varna, Veliko Tarnovo, Vidin, Vratsa, Gabrovo, Dobrich, Kazanlak, Kardzhali, Kyustendil, Lovech, Montana, Pazardzhik, Pernik, Pleven, Razgrad, Ruse, Samokov, Svishtov, Sliven, Smolyan, Sofia, Stara Zagora, Troyan, Targovishte, Haskovo, Shumen, and Yambol. Cross-border conferences will be held in Belgrade, Bosilegrad, Bucharest, Edirne, Skopje, and Thessaloniki. The project builds on the Europe in the Balkans: A Common Future and Europe in Bulgaria: A Common Future projects, implemented by BTA in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
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