As we are drawing closer to the 35th General Conference, entitled to take important decisions, the responsibility for their preparation falls on us. I will mention in the first place the biannual budget and the mid-term programme adaptation.

On the other hand, we cannot remain indifferent in the face of global challenges. The world is changing in front of our eyes and nothing will remain the same in the wake of the worst economic and financial crisis, which affects us all. It is assuming unprecedented dimensions and complexity, posing new obstacles to the Millennium Development Goals. The two G-20 meetings have inspired hope by the decisions taken and the will for prompt and decisive action expressed therein. Nevertheless, I believe that nothing will be the same the morning after this crisis, for it also involves ethical and moral dimensions. It is UNESCO’s mission and responsibility to analyse, reform and adjust its activities in a way enabling it to come up with an adequate response, as anticipated from us by our societies.

Please, allow me to congratulate the Director-General on his address to G20 as well as on initiating «The Global Financial and Economic Crisis: What Impact on Multilateralism and UNESCO? » Future Forum to be held on March 2 this year at UNESCO’s headquarters. I dare hope that this is merely the onset of delivering the exigently needed future actions analysis.

There are two important aspects to this. The first one concerns our budget and concrete programming that I will dwell on later. The second aspect relates to UNESCO’s role as intellectual organisation and leader of the international community’s humanistic ideas. UNESCO was devised to embody the « conscience of mankind », as put by India’s great humanist and statesman Jawaharlal Nehru. I am confident today more than ever that UNESCO has to re-assume its unique vocation in a global world overwhelmed by striking uncertainty and inequality.
Under these circumstances, I would propose five lines of reflection and action:

1. To re-consider UNESCO’s priorities in a highly responsible and politically committed mode, taking into account the crisis’ ramifications and impact. The goals set out in our mandate are now viable more than ever. In my opinion, they should make a top priority and stay firmly in the focus of all our debates, along with new challenges like climate change and water, viewed again in the light of our mandate.

At the same time it is important to reformulate the Millennium Development Goals and particularly those concerning education. It is UNESCO’s responsibility to persuade the governments and the entire international community that, as Mr. Matsuura has already noted in his address to G20, « By channelling resources into education not only shall we stimulate economy but we shall also contribute to a more tangibly expressed future growth and guarantee stability in the world in long-term perspective ».

The crisis necessitates reinforcement of our activities at all three levels: from education for all through primary education and up to higher education. The conferences held in Ahmedabad, Dakar, Geneva, Oslo and Bonn constitute important milestones on our path towards pulling together governments and societies.

2. The second point of the topical analysis, as I take it, is the necessity for a decisive step by UNESCO towards assuming the role of leader and mobilizer of governments, specialized agencies and scientific community in the field of science, innovation and novel, including green technologies. Today UNESCO is in a unique situation enabling it to assist governments in promoting their scientific policies, developing countries’ governments inclusive.

3. We should never stop pleading that culture is to be deemed an integral aspect of sustainable development. It is highly regrettable that culture remains left out of the Millennium Development Goals, for in a global and complex world like ours culture is indispensable in affirming tolerance and mutual understanding among peoples. I would go even further by saying that today, in the face of the crisis; culture is inherently linked with the call for endorsing new humanism – the humanism of the 21st century.

In this context I am keen to underline that UNESCO has to be more actively committed to the broader debate on tolerance, rapprochement and exchange among various cultures. What I have in mind is the ever growing importance of the « Alliance of Civilizations » initiative, which is so much akin in spirit to our objectives.

4. In the fourth place, Mr. Chairman, I would like to highlight the imperative need to avert the development aid downsizing. This is key to our willingness to see the two instituted priorities – Africa and Education for All, remain in the sphere of our activities. At the same time, we have to adopt a realistic approach and perceive the crisis as objective reality. We have to set higher requirements to the implementation of extra-budgetary programmes and their coordination within the budget programming. As a representative of a donor country I would like to point out that Bulgaria reiterates with due sense of responsibility its solidarity vis-a-vis the development aid in spheres falling within UNESCO’s activities domain. In the framework of the Fund we have established under UNESCO with priorities focused on the implementation of programmes in African countries, in post-conflict and small island developing countries, my country, Bulgaria, has disbursed EUR 500,000 over the past five months. This is a manifestation of my government’s lasting commitment in support of UNESCO.

I would not avoid the key issues of the Organization’s regular budget and management. We welcome the proposal for strengthening the ‘’Education” Sector. In parallel to that, under the current circumstances there is an urgent need to utilize the available resources in a most efficient mode and with the prudence of a modern, transparent and result-oriented management, based on accountability and adequate administrative-to-programming costs ratio, in favour of the latter.

5. In the fifth place I would like to underscore with a profound conviction the importance of enhancing our activities on the second UNESCO horizontal priority – equal opportunities for women and promotion of their role in society. We should not let the crisis impede the achievement of these goals. What UNESCO could do in this respect is, on the one hand, as “organization – conscience of mankind” to sensitize the general public and governments’ attention to the pressing need for continuous efforts towards attaining these goals, and on the other hand, to ensure constant respect of that priority upon implementation of each individual project.

Mr. Chairman,
And last but not least, I firmly believe in the capacity of UNESCO to promote an effective and proactive multilateralism. I welcome the initiative to hold a meeting of the 28 United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB) here in Paris and the nine initiatives designed to assist countries in accelerating the way out of the crisis. The common commitment is a telling example of UN’s resolve to render the multilateral global system more coherent, more effective and more inclusive, especially for the poorest countries and to the most vulnerable groups within each society. The UN concept of “Delivering as One”, taking into consideration UESCO’s unique role and leader in the areas of its mandate, should be part of this broad and assertive approach.

Sometimes a crisis is an opportunity and forces change. I believe that today UNESCO has a unique opportunity of asserting the new “”humanism of the 21st century” by playing its role as the “conscience of mankind”. This is the moment for UNESCO to raise its voice and to say aloud

• that the financial and economic crisis is also a moral crisis, namely of values, confidence and credibility;
• that the crisis must not serve as a justification for trimming national education budgets and international aid to education;
• that the cultural dimension is crucial for any meaningful debate on development;
• that inclusiveness and justice is of essence for the integrity of the multilateral system and that UNESCO is available to all Member States for policy advice and operational activity.
• that the humanistic values that are the underlying foundations of UNESCO’s Constitution today are more than valid.

This is both our responsibility and our mission.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman

I have the pleasure of welcoming you today to UNESCO’s headquarters to the launch of an exhibition on the topic of Letters of Bulgaria – Alphabet of Europe. This exhibition of posters is organized by the Permanent Delegation of Bulgaria to UNESCO as part of the International Mother Language Day (21 February) and the International Year of Languages (2008).

The International Mother Language Day was proclaimed by UNESCO’s General Conference in 1999 and its goal is mostly promotion of cultural and linguistic diversity as well as multilingualism. The 10th edition celebrated this year is an occasion to remind member states and ourselves that every language is unique and that no language is superior to the rest.

Today’s celebration coincides nicely with the closure of the International Year of Languages proclaimed by the UN General Assembly. It mobilized lots of positive energy around the world to protect and develop all languages and endangered languages in particular.

I hardly need to highlight the close link between cultural and linguistic diversity because this link is clearly shown in UNESCO’s Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity and the ensuing Action Plan (2001), the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (2003) and the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (2005).

Today I am particularly happy to open our exhibition featuring works of artists around the world. It includes 30 posters, a number equal to the number of letters in the Bulgarian alphabet. Each artist created a poster/letter assigned via raffle draw by an International Board of Judges of the Fifth Triennale held in October 2007 in Sofia. It is my pleasure to introduce the renowned Bulgarian artist, Bozhidar Ikonomov, presiding the Organizational Committee of the Fifth Triennale in Sofia, and Ms. Albena Spasova, member of the Committee, who came specifically to attend tonight’s exhibition opening.

This is a display of the talent of 30 artists from 20 countries who worked together to make a collection of posters devoted to Bulgaria and Bulgarian culture from the perspective of the Bulgarian alphabet’s uniqueness and universality. Poster artists come from the following countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Switzerland, Turkey, the UK and the USA.

Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

The history of each country is marked by extraordinary events, each of them representing a victory of the spirit and creative genius. These events transcend time and political development; they have helped create and furthermore strengthen cultural and national identity. This is the case of the appearance of the new Slavic alphabet, the Cyrillic alphabet, in the 9th century on the territory of the young Bulgarian state, as well as the creation of a national literature written in the Slavic/Old Bulgarian language.

The alphabet was worked out by two brothers, Cyril and Methodius whom the Bulgarian people and the entire Slavic world are indebted for the major written texts in Slavic literature. Cyril (a.k.a. Constantine the Philosopher) was born between 827 and 828 in Thessaloniki and died on 14 February 869 in Rome. He was buried in the basilica of San Clemente in Rome. His elder brother, Methodius, was born between 815 and 820 in Thessaloniki and died on 6 April 885 in Great Moravia. The two brothers are known as the two Slavic Apostles because their mission was to disseminate the Gospel among Slavic peoples in Central Europe. Their translations of key texts from the Bible and liturgical texts in a «simple popular» language were at the time an unprecedented endeavour in Europe, where religious sermons were performed only in Latin, Greek or Jewish. Praising God in your own language was only short of revolution. This had historical significance not just for shaping the Bulgarian nation but also for the development of Bulgaria for 1150 since.

Shall I say that Cyril and Methodius anticipated the cause of the International Mother Language Day? The Catholic Church which commemorates the two saints on 7 July proclaimed them Patrons of Europe in 1985 thus recognizing the fact that Cyril and Methodius as it were made Slavic people full-fledged members of the Church. The Eastern Orthodox world commemorates St. Cyril on 14 February.

Allow me to remind you that upon Bulgaria’s accession to the European Union in 2007 the Cyrillic alphabet became one of the three official alphabets of the EU together with the Latin and the Greek alphabets. The Cyrillic alphabet has strong millennia long traditions; it is the writing alphabet of more than 250 million people in the Slavic cultural area and is playing an ever important role in today’s world.

I am pleased to have the opportunity to quote the great Bulgarian poet, Ivan Vazov, in the premises of UNESCO, which is the Home of all cultures. Ivan Vazov exclaims in all legitimacy and pride that ‘We have also given something to the world and to all Slavs books to read’. The fact that the Cyrillic alphabet is the third official alphabet of the European Union makes my compatriots proud because they realize this alphabet may be the most original part of Bulgaria’s specific contribution to cultural diversity. Because the alphabet is a tool serving language and each language around the world gives a chance to read the universe differently.

Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

This exhibition is a way for Bulgaria to demonstrate its cooperation in developing language policies, which enable each and every community to use their mother tongue as much and as frequently as possible including in education, in parallel to the command of one national or regional language and one international language. In the long run, Bulgaria is a multiethnic and multicultural country which is part of the Balkans, Europe, and the world.
Thank you for your attention.

In the year when the international community marks the 60th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Bulgaria observes the 65th anniversary of the rescue of the Bulgarian Jews from deportation.

The rescue of the Bulgarian Jews is a source of great national pride, but it is not to be regarded as a random, offhand occurrence. This act is the result of a century-old policy of tolerance, mutual respect and understanding among the different religious and ethnic communities on Bulgarian soil.

Solidarity, humanism and tolerance are essential characteristics of the Bulgarian people. It can clearly be stated that modern-day Bulgaria attaches paramount importance to humanism through its aspiration towards tolerance, democracy and peace.

The rescue of almost 48 000 Bulgarian Jews in March 1943 is, without a doubt, a great and beautiful lesson in humanism and tolerance. The entire Bulgarian society had combined its efforts to avoid the tragedy of deportation.

Since 2002, March 10th, the date the rescue of Bulgarian Jews began, has been marked in our country as a day commemorating the victims of the Holocaust and the rescue of the Bulgarian Jews. Since 2003, this memorable date has been written down in the official calendar of the Republic of Bulgaria by decision of the Council of Ministers.

The exhibition we are opening tonight is entitled Condamnés et rescapés (Condemned and Rescued) and it offers us the opportunity to reflect upon the sufferings of the Holocaust and the power of civic activity aimed at overthrowing political discrimination. With this exhibition, Bulgaria would like to highlight one of the most wonderful pages in its history.

The exhibition, consisting of 22 panels, recreates the dramatic fate of Bulgarian Jews from the period 1940-1943. The photos and the accompanying text deliver the fundamental and universal message that all forms of anti-Semitism, intolerance and discrimination can be overcome everywhere, even under the most impossible circumstances.

At moments like this, Bulgaria experiences a justified feeling of national pride of the fact that thanks to its politicians and citizens, it succeeded in saving the lives of thousands of people and defending their fundamental rights and freedoms.

Today, we voice our gratitude to all the political parties, democratic organisations and civillians who dared to oppose the deportation. We also bow down before the intellectuals, writers and artists, who were among the most active participants in the national protest.

Tonight we also remember, with particular respect, the firm stand of the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, whose exceptional role in the rescue of the Bulgarian Jews is now duely recognized.

On a day like this, we should no longer shy away from the issue of the responsibility of the then government for the fate of 11 343 Bulgarian Jews from Macedonia and Thrace, who were deprived of their Bulgarian citizenship and deported to the death camps. It is indeed our duty to send a clear message that nobody and nothing has been forgotten.

There are subjects from the past that should not be ignored by history. There are events in which achievement and failure intertwine in a way that will morally challenge future generations.

Each of the next generations will try to reach beyond the evident chronology, statistics and political history in search of hidden messages. We cannot change the past. But it is our duty not to forget it. And more important still, we must preserve our susceptibility of it so as not to allow new acts of genocide.

All attempts to question or deny the existence of the Holocaust or of any other crime against humanity are pitiful. UNESCO has a very important part to play in the continuity of this awareness, particularly with regard to younger generations.

Through all of its activities and programs, UNESCO constantly encourages quality in education, the instilling of certain values, dialogue, tolerance, respect for differences and rich cultural diversity.

This heavy responsibility we have remains, unfortunately, a current issue and we should aim to maintain our capacity for action.

I would like to commend you, Mr. President on your wonderful introduction. I would also like to welcome the Director General for his contribution to the proceedings of this session. Ms. Colonna already spoke about the overall position of the European Union on key agenda items, therefore, allow me to focus on several important aspects of the activities in our Organization.

A question that is being raised and causes concern to us, is the following: Will UNESCO live up to the requirements of the dynamic times we live in, in terms of the Millennium Development Goals. I just came back from New York, where I attended the session of the UN General Assembly, which pointed out that a new political, economic and social geography is on the rise around the world and that we need to give consideration to this fact.

I believe we would be able to answer this question if we made two types of analysis: one is an analysis of the viability of our Organization’s original values and objectives. I would like to quote the first Director General of UNESCO, Sir Julian Huxley, whose words back in 1946 are still valid: “UNESCO’s main concern is with peace and security and with human welfare … based on humanism… treating all peoples and… all individuals … in terms of human dignity, mutual respect and educational opportunity. It must be an evolutionary as opposed to a static or ideal humanism. It is essential for UNESCO to adopt an evolutionary approach. If it does not do so, its philosophy will be a false one, its humanism at best partial, at worst, misleading”.

The second type of analysis is related to the new challenges and the need to adjust our Organization accordingly. Next year we will celebrate 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall. At the time, some philosophers foresaw the end of history. Today, 20 years later, I would dare say that this was the beginning of history, the beginning of a shared aspiration not only in Eastern Europe but in the whole wide world. This was an aspiration for democracy, prosperity, and better life. Globalization gave a universal dimension to that aspiration and helped millions of people overcome poverty and misery. However, certain forms of inequality were exacerbated and here I mean mostly Africa and the absolute need to rethink and include Africa as a priority in all our actions.

Mr. President,

Peace and development are the answer to those concerns. The twentieth century gave us a unique and powerful tool to achieve those two goals: multilateralism. I would rather have more time to pronounce a eulogy on multilateralism because in my view it is the best response to selfishness, nationalism and intolerance. Today’s multilateralism is the epitome of humanism mentioned in Mr. Huxley’s speech.

The reform in the United Nations creates an opportunity for UNESCO to find its proper place as a leader in the areas of its expertise.It is evident that decentralization should continue and UNESCO should be brought down to earth and come closer to the real problems, thus generating the paramount need for rotation.

UNESCO should take reform seriously and by UNESCO I mean not just the Director General but all of us: member states, national commissions, the three bodies of the organization. All of us make UNESCO and we need to take responsibility. In this sense, I would like to welcome the important initiative taken up by the President of the General Conference, Ambassador Georges Anastassopoulos.

Mr. Chairman, UNESCO is not a development agency, but with the formulation of policies, benchmarks and good practices it can make a concrete practical and real impact on the lives of millions of people. We have to rethink our policies and refocus our efforts for the better use of resources and of all the instrumentarium at our disposal.

The debate on the next biannual budget is a good opportunity to start such a reflection taking a realistic and at the same time an ambitious stand. Realistic, because we know that in the present circumstances we can hardly go beyond the zero growth budget, although many of us would like to see it differently. Ambitious, because on one hand, we have to aspire to a better use of our resources, limited as they are, by decreasing the administrative costs, and on the other, to insist that the international donor community, lives up to the promises for higher aid transfers to the developing countries.

There are new donors emerging, Bulgaria being among them, and I am pleased to announce that my government has decided to establish a trust fund with Africa as a priority. At the same time, the constant changing of the ratio between the regular budget and the extrabudgetary resources leads to new challenges and potential problems which should be examined with all the necessary seriousness.

In terms of the instrumentarium, UNESCO should aspire for a better use of the interdisciplinary approach, the result-based management, the need for transparency and accountability which should evolve into an overall management culture.

It is my firm belief that UNESCO’s involvement in so many dispersed initiatives, projects and programmes dilutes the core programmes and the essential messages. Setting the right priorities is of essence, which means that programme concentration is unavoidable. UNESCO should therefore embark on a sustained effort of focussing on a reduced number of top priorities of which its competence is universally acknowledged making it an uncontested lead agency. This implies consultation of relevant stakeholders, partners, constituencies and established lobbies – a complex and arduous task that requires courage, resolve and patience. It goes without saying that in the first instance, Member States must be involved.

Such an approach will also improve UNESCO’s image. In addition a more targeted communication strategy is of crucial importance, not because of a sheer ambition of being visible, but because this visibility will serve us better promote our noble ideas and objectives. A priority may possibly be dealt with by a committee set up especially for that purpose.

There is one issue, Mr. Chairman, that should permeate all our endeavors and that issue is called gender equality. I had the privilege to participate in three out of four international conferences within the UN Decade for Women and its follow-up – Copenhagen, Nairobi and Beijing. Now 33 years after the launching of the UN decade, I still consider that the goals are way ahead of us.

Mr. Chairman, one last note which I consider extremely important. We have to regain our confidence in the importance and relevance of UNESCO. We should not be afraid of the change. The DG has started important reforms and we should encourage him to continue while rendering to him all our support till the very last minute of his mandate. We, at UNESCO, more than any other UN agency, have a mission – to give an intellectual and humanistic response to globalization.

Allow me first of all to express my great joy on the occasion of Bulgaria’s return to the Executive Board after a 10-year absence and my belief that this session will be constructive and fruitful.

Being a new member of the Board we will make efforts as we have done so far to provide a responsible approach and assist the genuine development of our Organization. We will be happy if our participation in the Executive Board would be successful but it would be more important to leave our footprint on the activities of UNESCO because as the great Einstein said, « Try not to become a man of success but a man of value ».

Allow me to express my country’s positive stance on the priorities at the basis of the programme and budget for the next two years and UNESCO’s Mid-term Strategy that were adopted at the most recent General Conference.

The main goal of UNESCO, Education for All by 2015, is quite broad and is indicative of the Organization’s adequate position on this issue.

«Why is it important? Because I believe that we are all aware of the fact that a country cannot be expected to prosper if its citizens are illiterate, if its children have no access to education, if its daughters cannot go to school as boys do». Those were the words of the Bulgarian President in his capacity as special guest at the opening of the 34th General Conference session.

Bulgaria which has rich traditions in education is glad to have received UNESCO’s mandate to be the international coordinator of the Education for All Program and is proud with the progress made in this area. In our opinion the challenges for the EFA Program are national. Therefore, UNESCO should focus its efforts more locally because this is the key arena. In our opinion UNESCO has also managed to meet the requirements for broadening access to secondary education, vocational training and higher education.

In parallel, there is a need to focus more on finding new partnerships and extrabudgetary funds, strengthening capacity (including the capacity of UNESCO University Chairs and associated schools), developing interregional cooperation to exchange good practices and increase the level of expertise.

I would like to underscore Bulgaria’s position that if there are no tangible results in education, it would not be possible to attain Millennium Goals for knowledge-driven society and sustainable development. Here I would like to quote from yesterday’s address of the Director General who emphasized the fact that «UNESCO must become Agency of choice for countries as they seek support to respond to these challenges».

When it comes to culture, we need to give UNESCO credit for its exceptional role in defining international rules and standards. We should acclaim the consistent efforts of the Secretariat to encourage the design of a universal vision on culture in the context of development, innovation, dialogue, and social unity «based on a single regulatory foundation». Thanks to these efforts and the work of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage whose second special session was held in Sofia, we finalized the Convention’s operational directives while taking into consideration the positions from Algeria, Chengdu and Tokyo. Those directives will be adopted at the Conference of States Parties to the Convention this June. The Sofia session was opened by the highest authority of Bulgaria, the President of the country. And I would like to thank the President of the Executive Board for his appreciation because this session was indeed proof of our government’s support conferred upon the protection of intangible heritage.

This was the reason why we took concrete steps to establish a regional intangible heritage protection centre in Bulgaria under UNESCO’s auspices with the purpose of combining the efforts of countries in the region of South East Europe, the Black Sea, and the Caucasus. In the future, this centre may collaborate on an interregional basis with Africa that remains one of our priorities.

Speaking of regional cooperation I would like to give an example with the regional expert meeting on developing national inventories held in 2007 in Bulgaria with the exclusive aid of the Culture Sector under UNESCO’s Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe (BRESCE). This meeting was an efficient tool to promote the concepts of the 2003 Convention which interested both professionals and the general public.

As you know Bulgaria pays special attention to cooperation with South Eastern European countries and participates in all summits organized by the Director General and heads of state from the region dedicated to dialogue among civilizations and cultures. One specific result from all those meetings are the strategies and the action plan adopted by Ministers of Culture from the Region pointing out that a key element of cultural diversity and rapprochement is education about and through cultural and historical heritage.

While commending the achievements of UNESCO in its regulatory action, I believe it is necessary to draw your attention to the need of an even more equitable approach that would pay equal attention to all Conventions adopted by our Organization.

We need to point out UNESCO’s adequate approach and consistent efforts to intensify intergovernmental and international research programs. Bulgaria believes that a very important goal is tapping the opportunities for developing intergovernmental cooperation on coastal ecosystems, biosphere and natural reserves. We believe that quality of life can be improved by pooling together the capacity of national research centres and programs resolving regional issues related to the economy, migration and environment.

This is why we believe that the recommendations of the General Review Committee on Large Programs ІІ and ІІІ should become the basis and food for thought on this issue.

In the era of global climate change and in the light of the very efficient UN Programme Delivering as One whose objective is to promote closer environmental cooperation, UNESCO should position its programmes better in order to avoid overlap with the activities of the future UN Environmental Agency.

In closing, I would like to say that Bulgaria supports the propositions made by the Director General with respect to intersectoral platforms and believes that they are well defined. They represent mostly a new way towards a more harmonized and coordinated approach to the complex issues and challenges on the global, regional and national levels. Their goal is to fulfil the regular programme and to achieve expected results approved by the General Conference, with the hope that they will improve the quality, the coherence and the cost-effectiveness of our programme.

In the precise words of Horatio, «Нe has the deed half done, who has made a beginning!»

Thank you for joining us tonight and celebrating a notable anniversary – Bulgaria’s 50th year of membership to UNESCO.

This jubilee offers us a chance to assess the scope of our journey so far. According to the universal rule of cyclic development, our presence in UNESCO has had both happy and quiet periods. However, I very much enjoy moments when I come across people in UNESCO’s building who say, ‘You know, I was in Sofia in 1985 and I loved your country. What a conference! What a country!’

One session of the General Conference held in Sofia, three times member to the Executive Board, 9 historical, cultural and natural monuments on the World Heritage List, 56 associated schools, among others… When you draw the line, this is the result for the entire Bulgarian society ‘committed to UNESCO’s ideas and programs’. This is the reason why I am proud to be part of a group of active people working towards the renaissance and the second wave of Bulgarian presence to UNESCO on the one hand, and introducing the new face of UNESCO to the young Bulgarian people who were born after 1985, on the other.

Today we celebrate 50 years since Bulgaria has joined UNESCO’s big family. Our pride to be an active participant in one of the largest UN organizations is combined with the belief that we will manage to live up to a daring challenge: Bulgaria’s future accession to the European Union. According to Herodotus, ancient Europe consisted of Greece, Thrace and Macedonia only. European by origin, location and spirit, open to the world in an unprecedented way, today Bulgarians await their full-fledged accession to the large European architecture. I am thrilled that now more than ever the international community has shown increased interest in my country, its nation and culture. The role of culture is to foster understanding rather than discord, isn’t it? Moreover, people’s culture, as well as intellectual and moral solidarity, are in fact the only viable foundation for fair and stable peace. The afore-mentioned solidarity, expertise and cooperation enabled us to give our humble contribution to UNESCO’s programs.

Dear friends, on behalf of my government and myself, I would like to appreciate the solidarity of all of you, representatives of the Secretariat and my colleagues, the ambassadors and thank you for your precious personal support conferred upon Bulgarian experts and institutions active in the sphere of education, research, culture, and communications.

Once again I would like to express my deepest gratitude for your being responsive at any time and for listening to our problems. Thank you so much!