site.btaNational Opera in Bucharest Hosts Bulgarian-Romanain Exhibition, Concert

After the dedication of a BTA press club on Friday, BTA and AGERPRES opened a joint exhibition at the National Opera in Bucharest on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the signing of a Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Good Neighbourliness between Romania and Bulgaria and the 15th anniversary of their EU accession.

In the exhibition, the two neighbouring countries' joint progress towards and in the European family is traced by 30 photographs arranged on 15 panels. 

Attending the event were BTA Director General Kiril Valchev, AGERPRES Director General Claudia-Victoria Nicolae, Bulgaria's Ambassador in Bucharest Radko Vlaykov and Romania's Ambassador in Sofia Brandusa Ioana Predescu, among a number of other official guests.

On Friday evening, a concert gala mottoed "Together in Europe" took place at the National Opera in Bucharest under the auspices of Presidents Klaus Iohannis of Romania and Rumen Radev of Bulgaria.

The two anniversaries were also noted in greetings by two countries' presidents, on behalf of the Romanian Foreign Ministry and by Ambassador Vlaykov.
 
The diplomat described the fact that the event was under the auspices of presidents Radev and Iohannis as "the highest state expression of the significance of relations between Romanian and Bulgaria".

"We are immensely pleased to find that we have shed the totalitarian past over those years. We recovered our mentality and self-confidence of Europeans, as we Bulgarians and Romanians have always been Europeans. We regained our European status. This helped us to rediscover each other, to feel that we are not just neighbours but very close peoples," Vlaykov said, adding that the closeness between Bulgarians and Romanians has a variety of dimensions. 

"Romanian tourists are the most numerous foreign tourists visiting Bulgaria, and Bulgarians rank first among foreign visitors to Romania. Romania is Bulgaria's second largest foreign trade partner, and Bulgaria is Romania's third largest foreign trade partner," Vlaykov pointed out.

He stressed that the gala is also occasioned by the opening of a BTA press club in Bucharest.

The ambassador also acknowledged the presence of representatives of the Bulgarian national minority in Romania. "For over three hundred years now, your ancestors have been an important part of the building of Romanian society. And today, as loyal citizens of Romania, you contribute to your country's being an important part of the European Union," he said.

The "Together in Europe" concert featured arias from Carmen, Rigoletto, Nabucco, La Traviata, La Boheme, Attila and Un ballo in maschera under the baton of Bulgarian conductor Yordan Kamdzhalov. The gala brought together Romania's Simonida Lutescu (soprano), Sorana Negrea (mezzo), Lucian Petrean (baritone) and Alin Stoica (bass) and Bulgaria's Tania Ivanova, Anna Maria Spataris (soprano), Christian Christov (tenor) and Evgeniy Stanimirov (bass).