Sofia, December 15 (BTA) - BTA opens a press club in Skopje to become the first media outlet from Bulgaria to do so. It is also sending a correspondent who will be based there following a 10-year break with no correspondent in the Republic of North Macedonia.

BTA's plan is to have permanently based correspondents to all neighbouring countries.

Reporting from Skopje will be Marinela Velichkova (pictured) who has been covering and analyzing processes in the Balkans for many years as a journalist in two media organizations: Bulgarian National Radio and Darik Radio. She was the first one to have a direct radio link between Skopje and Blagoevgrad (southwestern) Bulgaria shortly after Bulgaria recognized the independence of the then Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia back in 1992.

BTA last had a correspondent in Skopje between 1992 and 1995.

The Bulgarian National Television closed its correspondent station in Skopje in 2010 and the Bulgarian National Radio a year later.

The BTA press club in Skopje will be in the central square and will open officially in early 2022.

The national news agency already has two press clubs abroad: in Bosilegrad, Serbia, and in Taraklia, Moldova. It also has 18 press clubs in Bulgaria.

The plan of BTA Director General Kiril Valchev is to open a press club in all regional capitals in Bulgaria and wherever large Bulgarian communities reside abroad.

The press clubs are venues for news conferences, discussions, exhibitions, exchange of experience and training of journalists. All have equipment for live streaming.

In May 2021 in Rome, in the presence of the heads of State of the two countries, the leaders of the Bulgarian News Agency and of the MIA news agency of the Republic of North Macedonia signed an agreement for exchange of information and professional cooperation.

In 2018, the 16th edition of the World Meeting of Bulgarian Media, which BTA organizes every year, took place in Skopje.