site.btaUPDATED Journalists from Republic of North Macedonia Visit Bulgarian News Agency

Journalists from the Republic of North Macedonia visited the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) in Sofia on July 16. The meeting, part of the Time to Talk initiative, is a continuation of the Weekend of Dialogue: Journalists against Prejudice held in September 2019, where Macedonian journalists invited their Bulgarian colleagues to Ohrid to talk in a calm atmosphere, openly and without mediators or lecturers about the two countries' common problems in journalism and to build mutual trust.

The event is organized by BTA in partnership with European Parliament Rapporteur on the Republic of North Macedonia Ilhan Kyuchyuk.

The visiting journalists were welcomed by BTA Director General Kiril Valchev and got acquainted with the work of BTA. Valchev said that, currently, BTA is the only Bulgarian media to publish news around the clock.

As of 2022, BTA is freely accessible, he noted. “We are the first news agency in the world that does not sell its information products,” Valchev stressed, adding that BTA has six directorates publishing news in Bulgarian and an English Service Directorate.

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Journalists from Bulgaria and their visiting colleagues from the Republic of North Macedonia will also hold talks in Veliko Tarnovo (North Central Bulgaria) for four days, between July 16 and 19, as part of the Time to Talk initiative.

The topics of discussion during the four-day meeting will include: "What has changed in two years - where did we succeed in and what did we not?", as well as: the media of Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia "between yesterday, today and tomorrow". On Monday, the journalists will learn about the good practices between the two countries, achieved in the field of education at a meeting at Veliko Tarnovo University.

A rich cultural programme with visits to historical sights in Veliko Tarnovo and Arbanasi is planned as part of the meeting. On July 19, guests will travel to Kazanlak, where they will visit the Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak and the Rose Museum.