site.btaCulture Minister Attends "Brand Bulgaria" National Campaign Event in Shumen

Bulgaria has seven months to prepare and show the world through UNESCO what it has to offer, caretaker Culture Minister Nayden Todorov said in Shumen (Northeast Bulgaria) on Tuesday regarding the country's upcoming hosting of the 47th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in 2025.

He attended a forum of Standard Media Group's "Brand Bulgaria" national campaign, held at the Regional Library in the town.

It was attended by Tourism Deputy Minister Irena Georgieva, Shumen Mayor Hristo Hristov, Regional Governor Beynur Ahmed, MPs, mayors of municipalities from Northeastern Bulgaria, representatives of local authorities, cultural institutions and tourist agencies.

Todorov pointed out that the next opportunity for Bulgaria to host a UNESCO World Heritage Committee session will be in "in a few decades". "We have a lot to show to the world," he said. "That is why we have seven months to prepare ourselves, to show the world through UNESCO what we have to offer, and to remember it ourselves, because what is happening today in Bulgaria is the result of not remembering who we are, what we are heirs of and what we have," the Culture Minister added. 

"Bulgaria has everything, it has a cultural heritage that few countries in the world can boast of having. Yet who knows what Bulgaria has, who knows about our cultural heritage, who knows about our artists, who knows about Bulgaria at all," Todorov asked. 

The Minister attributed the lack of a stable regular government in recent years to the division in the Bulgarian people. "We are not working together and that is exactly why we need Brand Bulgaria - first to unite us and then to help us show ourselves and the world," Todorov said.