Sofia, October 16 (BTA) - The Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) has organized 15 World Meetings of Bulgarian Media since 2005. The upcoming 16th meeting will open at the Rila Monastery (Southwestern Bulgaria) on Sunday and will continue in the town of Kyustendil, about 80 km from there.
The 16th forum is mottoed "Media and the Truth" and will take place in four panels, "Faith in the Media", "Hope in the Media", "Lies in the Media" and "Choice in the Media", moderated by journalists Georgi Milkov, Peter Galev, Ralitsa Kovacheva and Boyko Vasilev.
The World Meetings of Bulgarian Media are a professional forum aimed at communication and networking among Bulgarian journalists worldwide. The event is also a national cause which provides an independent forum for communication between the media of the Bulgarian communities abroad and representatives of the state bodies.
First World Meeting of Bulgarian Media: Held in Sofia on May 23-25, 2005. Motto: 1150 Years of the Alphabet, commemorating the anniversary of the invention of the Cyrillic alphabet. Topic: Bulgarian Media and Bulgaria's European Responsibilities. Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha sends an address to the forum. Participants: 58 Bulgarian media from 24 countries, represented by 70 journalists from abroad and 200 from Bulgaria. US-based media are the most numerous: six newspapers, one website and one radio station. An Association of Bulgarian Media Worldwide is set up, with BTA Director General Maxim Minchev as Chairman.
Second World Meeting of Bulgarian Media: Held in Chicago, Illinois, on May 20-22, 2006. Topic: National Identity and the Role of the Media in Bulgaria's Image Worldwide. Organized in partnership with the Bulgarian media community in the United States. Chicago is the city with the largest expat Bulgarian community of some 100,000 people. Held under the auspices of President Georgi Purvanov, who says in an address read out by BTA Director General Maxim Minchev that the Bulgarian media link all Bulgarians. Participants: 30 Bulgarian media from 14 countries, including Australia, Canada, Greece, Switzerland, the Vatican, Spain, Moldova, Serbia and Montenegro, France, Russia and Ireland. Bulgaria is represented by more than 20 media. Formal start of the activity of the Association of Bulgarian Media Worldwide.
Third World Meeting of Bulgarian Media: Held in Rome on May 19-23, 2007, in partnership with Italy's ANSA news agency. Topic: The Cyrillic Alphabet in Europe: The New Role of the Bulgarian Media in Europe, Viewed from Rome. Participants: 50 media from abroad and 30 from Bulgaria. Held under the auspices of Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev. ANSA Chief Foreign News Editor Giulio Pecora presents a welcoming address on behalf of Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni and of Paolo Serventi Longhi, Secretary General of the National Federation of Italian Press (FNSI). Bishop Tihon of Tiveriopol, who chairs the Bulgarian Orthodox community in Rome, and the Vatican Spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, welcome the participants. On May 23, delegates to the meeting are given an audience by Pope Benedict XVI, who makes a special address to the Third World Meeting of Bulgarian Media. "Dear friends, may the activity you develop in social communications contribute to making your rich cultural and spiritual heritage more familiar and more valued in Europe," His Holiness says.
Fourth World Meeting of Bulgarian Media: Held in Madrid on May 18-22, 2008. Topic: The Media: Imperative Third Party in the Intercultural Dialogue", with an emphasis on the promotion of Bulgarian culture, language and history around the world. Participants: 30 Bulgarian media abroad and 15 from Bulgaria. Key partners: Spain's EFE news agency and "Nova Duma", one of the main Bulgarian newspapers in Spain. President Georgi Purvanov opens the meeting. The participants hear addresses from Madrid Mayor Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon, Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, leader of the Simeon II National Movement, BTA Director General Maxim Minchev and writer Anton Donchev.
Fifth World Meeting of Bulgarian Media: Held in Sofia, Pomorie and Varna on May 17-21, 2009. Topic: Whither in Real, Virtual and Information Space: Tourism, High Technology and the Media - the Bulgarian Arguments against the Crisis. Participants: more 200 journalists from over 30 media from 25 countries. BTA Director General Maxim Minchev opens the event at the St Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia in the presence of President Georgi Purvanov and EU Commissioner Meglena Kuneva.
Sixth World Meeting of Bulgarian Media: Held in Vienna on May 17-20, 2010 in partnership with Austria's APA news agency. Topic: The New East and West. Discussions focus on the evolution of the terms "East" and "West" and the new East-West relationship in economic, social, cultural and media terms. Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov opens the meeting at the Hofburg Palace. Attending are more than 150 journalists, guests and officials, including Bulgarian Culture Minister Vezhdi Rashidov and Mayors Yordanka Fandakova of Sofia and Michael Haupl of Vienna.
Seventh World Meeting of Bulgarian Media: Held in The Hague and Hilversum, The Netherlands, on May 25-29, 2011. Topic: Media and Money, with a focus on media economics, media financing, media ownership and independence, media infrastructure changes and development, competition, advertising, copyright, and freedom of speech. Participants: more than 40 Bulgarian print and electronic media based in more than 20 countries, including newcomers from Sweden, China and South Africa. Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov opens the event in the presence of Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov, Economy, Energy and Tourism Minister Traicho Traikov, Foreign Minister Nickolay Mladenov, MPs, MEPs, media owners and editors-in-chief, and experts. The working part of the Meeting takes place in the city of Hilversum, dubbed "Europe's media capital," which is home to all Dutch and many other European television and radio stations, as well as the world's only Broadcasting Museum.
Eighth World Meeting of Bulgarian Media: Held in Bucharest on May 16-20, 2012. Topic: The Media: Between the Global and the Regional. Participants: more than 150 journalists, publishers, editors-in-chief and directors of the most influential national print and electronic media. The focus is on changes in the Bulgarian and international media environment in 2011, ways in which Bulgarian expatriate communities and their media are coping with the economic crisis, the regional functions of the media and the global challenges facing them. Special emphasis is laid on the specific characteristics of the regional media in Bulgaria and the conditions in which they operate. BTA Director General Maxim Minchev and Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova address the forum. It pays special attention to one of the oldest Bulgarian communities - the Bulgarians in Romania's Banat region, who number around 10,000 in the latest census.
Ninth World Meeting of Bulgarian Media: Held in Sofia, Plovdiv and Veliko Tarnovo on October 13-18, 2013. Topic: Media and National Causes. Culture Minister Peter Stoyanovich and Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova attend the opening. General and regional directors of news agencies from Russia, China, the US, the UK, Syria, Azerbaijan, Palestine, Macedonia, Romania, Slovenia, and Slovakia are among the guests. Participants: over 370 journalists from 45 Bulgarian media from 20 countries and 18 foreign journalists from ITAR-TASS, Xinhua, Associated Press, Ukrinform, AGERPRES, MIA, SANA, AZERTAC. Prof. Gredi Assa, Executive Director of the 13 Centuries Bulgaria National Endowment Fund presents to Svetla Kyosseva of the Hemus magazine in Hungary the inaugural award for contribution to the dissemination of Bulgarian culture by a Bulgarian language media abroad.
Tenth World Meeting of Bulgarian Media: Held in Sofia and the Serbian towns of Bosilegrad and Tsaribrod on October 19-23, 2014. Topic: Patriotism in a Global World. Participants: over 40 representatives of Bulgarian newspapers, magazines, news websites, radio and television stations from 20 countries and journalists from the most influential national media. President Rosen Plevneliev opens the forum at Sofia's Central Military Club. Attending are Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova, Council for Electronic Media Chairman Georgi Lozanov, writer Anton Donchev. The 13 Centuries Bulgaria National Endowment Fund presents the second award for contribution to the dissemination of Bulgarian culture to Maria Zaharieva of the Bulgari magazine in the Czech Republic.
Eleventh World Meeting of Bulgarian Media. Held in Athens on November 4-8, 2015. Topic: Media and Cultural Differences. Dialogue between Neighbours. Participants: over 150 journalists from Bulgaria and the world including 35 from newspapers, magazines, news websites, radio and television stations from over 20 countries. The forum opens on November 5 2015 at the National University of Athens. Dora Kostova, editor of the Roden Krai newspaper in Ukraine for 26 years, receives the annual award of the 13 Centuries Bulgaria National Endowment Fund.
Twelfth World Meeting of Bulgarian Media. Held in Prague on May 17-21, 2016. Topic: Media and Civil Causes. Participants: representatives of Bulgarian newspapers, magazines, news websites, radio and television stations from 20 countries as well as journalists from national media. The meeting opens at the Ambassador-Zlata Husa hotel on May 18. Addresses are made by Fisnik Abrashi, Associated Press Director for East-Central Europe, Czech News Agency Director General Jiri Majstr, Romania's AGERPRES Director General Alexandru Giboi, and Vesselin Vachkov, head of the Lidove Noviny media group in the Czech Republic. UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova sends a video message. The exhibition, "The Bulgarian Czechs", a joint project of the Bulgarian News Agency and the State Agency Archives, goes on display. Daniela Gorcheva, editor of the Dialog magazine in the Netherlands, receives the annual award of the 13 Centuries Bulgaria National Endowment Fund.
Thirteenth World Meeting of Bulgarian media. Held in Chisinau, Moldova, on October 4-8, 2017. Topic: Policies of Closeness. Participants: representatives of over 30 leading media from Bulgaria, Moldova, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Spain, the Vatican, the Netherlands, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Greece, Cyprus, Israel, the US and Canada. Bulgarian Vice President Iliana Iotova opens the forum at the National Museum of History of Moldova. Attending are Moldovan President Igor Dodon, writer Anton Donchev and Bishop Sionis, abbot of the Troyan Monastery. Maxim Bozhilov, newspaper editor and host of the Bulgarian Horizons programme for 20 years in Canada, receives the annual award of the 13 Centuries Bulgaria National Endowment Fund.
Fourteenth World Meeting of Bulgaria Media. Held in Skopje on October 24-27, 2018. Topic: Media and Memory. Participants: journalists from over 50 Bulgarian media from over 25 countries. Representatives of Argentine attend for the first time. BTA Director General Maxim Minchev opens the forum which is hosted at the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts. The meeting is held in partnership with the Macedonian Information Agency (MIA). Bulgarian Vice President Iliana Iotova sends an address, noting that the 14 meetings have turned the Bulgarian media across the world into a community. Dimiter Ganchev of the Bulgarian service of Radio Vaticana receives the annual award of the 13 Centuries Bulgaria National Endowment Fund.
Fifteenth World Meeting of Bulgarian Media. Held in Tirana, Albania, on November 22-25, 2019. Topic: Media and National Priorities. The Albanian Telegraphic Agency and the Albanian National Television are main partners. Participants: representatives of over 50 Bulgaria media from Bulgaria and abroad. BTA Director General Maxim Minchev opens the forum at the Resurrection of Christ Orthodox Cathedral on November 23. A documentary entitled "Buy Some Hope" (directed by Galina Kraleva) about Bulgarian artist of Albanian descent Lika Yanko is screened as part of the opening. BG Voice Chicago receives the annual award of the 13 Centuries Bulgaria National Endowment Fund.
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