BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 7. The February issue of Bulgarian News Agency's (BTA) LIK magazine, which is is dedicated to the war in Ukraine with a focus on the Bulgarians there, was presented in Bolgrad, Ukraine, on Monday.
"People in Bulgaria pray that Bulgarians in Ukraine live again in peace," BTA Director Kiril Valchev told the audience during the LIK event.
The February edition of LIK is mottoed "The Voice of Bulgarians in Ukraine". Anya Terzivets, Svetlana Dragneva and Maria Popova are the authors of the issue, whose texts introduce the LIK readers to the traditions, customs, lifestyle, art and everyday life of the Bessarabian Bulgarians in Ukraine. The issue also includes stories about the Bulgarian community in Ukraine from the BTA archive.
In his remarks at the presentation of the new LIK issue, the BTA Director General spoke about the establishment of the Bolgrad High School and its history, and said that the story can be a model for contemporary Bulgarians in Bulgaria to follow.
"The Bolgrad High School was inaugurated on May 1, 1859, and the first school year began in September. This is an example that Bulgarians are capable of fulfilling swiftly their important projects, which we Bulgarians in Bulgaria often have reason to doubt," he said. He also pointed out that the Bolgrad High School has taught more than a couple outstanding Bulgarians, among them Alexander Malinov, a leading Bulgarian politician with several tenures as Prime Minister (1908 – 1910; 1910 – 1911; 1918; 1918 and 1931); Dimitar Grekov, a politician and Prime Minister (1899), Danail Nikolaev, a prominent Bulgarian infantry general and Minister of War (1887); Bulgarian linguist, historian and bibliographer Alexander Teodorov - Balan (1959-1959). "That proves that Bulgarians can work for Bulgaria regardless of where they were born and where they studied, and Bulgarians in Bulgaria should accept them and rely on the Bulgarian diaspora," he added.
The BTA Director General pointed out that BTA offers free access to its news and is a great source of information from Bulgaria for Bulgarians abroad.
In his words, the Bulgarian communities abroad are a natural source for people to educate themselves in Bulgaria and to work for Bulgaria, regardless of where they come from.