site.btaBTA Opens National Press Club in Gotse Delchev on Day of St Cyril and St Methodius

The Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) unveiled a national press club here on Sunday, the Day of St Cyril and St Methodius. Attending the opening ceremony were BTA Director General Kiril Valchev, Deputy Director General Evgenia Drumeva, Secretary General Julia Sokolova, Gotse Delchev Mayor Vladimir Moskov and other representatives of the local authorities, representatives of national and local media, representatives of the academic community, and citizens. 

Gotse Delchev is the 33rd settlement in Bulgaria in which BTA opens a national press club with a correspondent office. It brings the number of the Agency's press clubs to 43, including those abroad and of a temporary nature. Elena Rouskova will be BTA's correspondent in Gotse Delchev.

The new press club was blessed by Metropolitan Seraphim of Nevrokop on the day of Gotse Delchev's church, the Day of St Cyril and St Methodius.

In his address, BTA Director General Kiril Valchev said that the Agency's national press clubs are a place where Bulgarians get heard and participate in the talks about Bulgaria and the EU. The new press club is the Bulgarian News Agency's 33rd with a correspondent office in Bulgaria and the 43rd if counting BTA's permanent press clubs abroad and the three temporary ones. All three temporary press clubs are connected to May 11, the Day of St Cyril and St Methodius, because one of these press club is on board Bulgaria’s naval research ship Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii, the second press club is at the Bulgarian Antarctic base named after St Kliment Ohridski, and the third one is active during book fairs, with the Bulgarian letters created by St Cyril and St Methodius’ disciples. In the last four years, BTA has tripled its national press clubs and has preserved and developed the 14 press clubs unveiled in the last 18 years, Valchev noted. 

Gotse Delchev is the only non-regional town in Bulgaria which today is the centre of a diocese of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church with the historical name of the Diocese of Nevrokop, the BTA Director General went on to say. Last year, it celebrated 130 years since its foundation, Valchev recalled. 
 
According to him, the Agency's press clubs are a home for questions, where Bulgarian citizens answer every day the burning questions about their future. 

Part of the possible answer to the current debate on citizens' participation in decision-making is that this should not happen only in elections and referenda over the years, but constantly, Valchev said. 

All Bulgarians should be heard first and foremost through the news about their lives and their positions, which are relayed by the BTA correspondents, as Gotsze Delchev already has a correspondent, Elena Rouskova. With the National Press Club and a correspondent office here, BTA will provide the four municipalities in Blagoevgrad Region (Gotse Delchev, Garmen, Hadzhidimovo, and Satovcha) with systematic information that can be used by all Bulgarian media, said the Director General. 

In his words, BTA's national press clubs also provide an opportunity for people from places where this has not always been the case, to participate in conversations about Bulgaria and the EU. The Bulgarian News Agency, in partnership with national and European institutions and organisations, regularly holds conferences, trainings, presentations and other events, including through the joint involvement of all press clubs. "For example, we will do it in a week's time by including the Gotse Delchev press club online in the presentation of the issue of BTA's LIK magazine dedicated to Bulgaria at the World Expos, which will be on May 18, the Day of Bulgaria at EXPO 2025 in Osaka, Japan, in front of Japanese students enrolled in Bulgarian studies, in direct connection with all BTA press clubs. By the way, the event in Osaka will be covered by the Agency's top reporter, Ivan Lazarov, born in Gotse Delchev, who is also at the opening of the national press club here today [Sunday]," Valchev said. 

"BTA works for all media and, therefore, it is a recognition for all colleagues in the Agency that today's opening of the national press club in Gotse Delchev is attended by representatives of our common Union of Bulgarian National Electronic Media (UBNEM)," Valchev noted. He listed the Director General of the Bulgarian National Radio, Milen Mitev, Anton Andonov, member of the Board of Bulgarian National Television (BNT), as well as the host of BNT's Panorama Boyko Vassilev and the chief producer of BNT's morning show, Albena Kolchakova, the Chief Operating Officer of bTV, Gospodin Yovchev, and the chief news producer of Nova TV, Marta Evtimova. "On this day, we are united by much more than just UBNEM, because today we celebrate the letters in which Bulgarian media write," said the BTA Director General. 

He expressed his gratitude to Mayor of Gotse Delchev Moskov and his deputies, Municipal Council Chairman Ivan Gerov and all the municipal councillors who unanimously supported the provision free of charge of the premises for the BTA National Press Club in a historic building opposite the museum in the town centre. 

"At the signing of the contract for the premises on March 10, I noted several arguments for the need for the BTA to have a permanent presence in Gotse Delchev," Valchev recalled and listed geographical, demographic, economic and historical arguments.

In his speech, Mayor Vladimir Moskov wished that only good news about Gotse Delchev and the region come out of the BTA press office. "It is no coincidence that our town has been chosen over the years as an administrative and above all spiritual centre, given the initiatives in more ancient and more recent times.  There have always been individuals, clerics and people who have led our nation forward," the Mayor said. He thanked the management of the BTA "for their diligence" in working towards the opening of the Agency's new press club. Moskov noted as a positive fact the presence of representatives of national media for the opening. "We are open to partnership in the interest of the people," said Moskov. 

Metropolitan Seraphim of Nevrokop performed together with clerics of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church a solemn blessing of BTA's press club. "Good luck to the correspondents and to all those who work at the Bulgarian News Agency and to all those who work in the Bulgarian media. May st Cyril and St Methodius be of help to you, workers of the word. You are also at war with the word. May God help those to whom your word reaches. May you win victories over sin, over evil, and victories for the sake of Man's well-being and salvation, for the benefit of the Fatherland and our people," the Metropolitan said and concluded his speech with "Christ is Risen!". 

The BTA Press Club in Gotse Delchev received Orthodox icons as a gift.