site.btaUPDATED BTA's Europe on Balkans Conference Held in Haskovo

Representatives of various sectors who have worked on projects supported by the EU Cohesion Policy participated in a conference at the National Press Club of the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) in Haskovo on Wednesday. The event was part of BTA's "Europe on Balkans: Cohesion Skills" project.

With the Southern Spring National Competition for Debut Literature, Haskovo is proof that talent can manifest itself anywhere, said BTA Director General Kiril Valchev. "Today is the first day of the 53rd edition of the competition, which was established by Haskovo Municipality and the Union of Bulgarian Writers in 1973 for the debut books of authors under 40 years of age," Valchev pointed out, adding that the competition aims to discover, stimulate and develop young literary creators in the fields of poetry, prose, literary criticism, children's literature, film scripts and theatre dramaturgy. Valchev said that thanks to the competition in Haskovo, young talents of Bulgaria are encouraged not to seek success elsewhere, despite the opportunities to freely move to another country in the EU, as Bulgaria itself is the EU and they can can develop their talent just as well here.

Education today is much more modern, more relevant and more accessible to young people who want to study, said Haskovo Deputy Regional Governor Mitko Petrov. As Petrov is currently a student, he sees the opportunities for education today and can compare them with those 20 years ago, he shared. He reported that while there are two universities that offer distance learning in the Haskovo Municipality, there is no university with a campus within the city itself. Petrov said that it is a significant challenge to retain young people in the region and back their development.

Schools and educational institutions in Haskovo Region have the possibility to develop and improve their training thanks to the opportunity to invest European funds in education, said Silviya Kasabova, Head of the Haskovo Regional Department of Education. She emphasized that this allows education to be of higher quality and children and employees in these educational institutions to receive different opportunities, adding that schools in the region have long been working under the education programme. "This programme supports the effective implementation of the competency-based approach to digitalization and transformation of school education, including vocational education and training", Kasabova stated.

In Haskovo Region, a total of 85 projects are implemented in the field of education under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, most of which are for building of STEM classrooms, said Regional Information Centre Expert Yoanna Kokotanekova. She pointed out that the most interesting and innovative project in Haskovo in the field of education is for building a Centre for Excellence in the Vocational High School of Woodworking and Construction. There are also many opportunities under the Education programme, which is detailed and pays attention to the education process, said Kokotanekova. However, only two contracts have been concluded under this programme in the new programming period in Haskovo. 

A Centre for Excellence is under construction at the Vocational High School of Woodworking and Construction in Haskovo and should be completed by the middle of 2026, said the school's director Margarita Topalova. She pointed out that the first activity is related to the construction of a new building on the property of the high school, while the second activity will provide the equipment and furnishings of modern offices and workshops, in which future personnel will be trained for the labour market. "I hope that through this centre we will motivate them to study the professions of the future and learn the skills that will be in demand in the coming years," Topalova emphasized.

The Regional Centre for Distance Learning in Haskovo, part of the Sofia University of National and World Economy (UNWE), has implemented several European projects in recent years, said Daniela Stoyanova, PR Coordinator at the centre and part-time lecturer. She noted that one project the regional centre has implemented is under the Bulgaria-Greece Cross Border Cooperation Programme and encourages not only UNWE students, but also entrepreneurs from Haskovo Region to increase their business potential and develop certain entrepreneurial initiatives in the border areas of Bulgaria and Greece. “Its goal is to encourage entrepreneurship by supporting innovative ideas in the cross-border region,” Stoyanova saidd. The leading organization is the Alexandria Innovation Zone, while UNWE, the Aristotle Faculty of Economics in Thessaloniki and the Industrial Zones National Company are partners of the project, which is worth EUR 85,000 and is funded under the INTERREG Greece - Bulgaria 2014-2020 programme.

In the previous programming period, the main project implemented by Haskovo Municipality was related to improving the educational infrastructure, which was part of the integrated plans for urban regeneration and development, said Valentin Spendzharov, Chief Expert at Haskovo Municipality's European and National Programmes and Projects Directorate. The project, which is worth over BGN 20 million, included two large schools and eight buildings of four kindergartens. In the same period, the dormitories and workshops of the Vocational High School of Woodworking and Construction were renovated and reconstructed as well. "In this period, we continue with the funds under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, under which a large number of projects are being implemented," Spendzharov said. The main ones are for the reconstruction of a primary school, three kindergarten buildings, the dormitories next to the High School of Mathematics and the Centre for Excellence.

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. The schedule of conferences until the end of September 2025 includes events 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.