The Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) opens a national press club in Athens

The Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) has opened its 44th national press club in the Greek capital Athens and now has permanent representation in the capitals of all countries neighboring Bulgaria.

The press club was consecrated by Bishop Meletiy of Znepole, rector of the Sofia Theological Seminary St. John of Rila. At the opening ceremony which took place on February 14, BTA Director General Kiril Valchev emphasized that the national press club in Athens is the 44th in Bulgaria and abroad and will serve as a home for all Bulgarian media, as well as for Greek media interested in Bulgaria.

“Today is a very good day for Bulgarian-Greek relations,” said Bulgaria’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Greece, Valentin Poryazov. The Chair of the Board of the Greek national news agency ANA-MPA, Aria Agatsa, stated that the opening of a BTA press club in Athens is an important moment for Bulgaria, for Greece, and for journalism, BTA reported.

“What unites us is history, culture, and religion… Today, when we honor the memory of St. Cyril, is very important and symbolic, because St. Cyril and his brother St. Methodius were born and raised in Thessaloniki, after which they became enlighteners of the Slavic peoples. This shows how many things unite us,” Aria Agatsa stressed.

During the ceremony, Greek students studying Bulgarian at the University of Athens under the guidance of Prof. Gencho Banev read a panegyric by St. Clement of Ohrid dedicated to his teacher St. Cyril the Philosopher in Church Slavonic, modern Bulgarian, and Greek, and performed the song “Hubava si, moya goro” (“You Are Beautiful, My Forest”), while children from the Bulgarian Sunday School “Sts. Cyril and Methodius” performed a northern Bulgarian folk dance.

The Director General of the Bulgarian National Radio, Milen Mitev, highlighted the importance of well-developed correspondent networks at a time when it is increasingly difficult to distinguish truth from manipulation. “I am very pleased that the Bulgarian News Agency is paving the way for all Bulgarian media here in Athens,” he added.

“We expect intensive coverage of a wide range of news, related not only to the Greek state but also to the Bulgarian community here in Greece,” said Gabriela Naplatanova from the Council for Electronic Media. She recalled that there is a “huge Bulgarian community” in Greece that should receive extensive coverage reaching not only Bulgaria but all parts of the world.

According to the Rector of Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski, Prof. Dr. Georgi Valchev, by opening a press club in the Greek capital, BTA is establishing a strong presence on the map of the Balkans and will contribute not only to Bulgaria’s positive image and the development of good neighbourly relations, but also to keeping Bulgarian society well informed.

Edited by Krasimir Martinov
English: R. Petkova