The Agency for Bulgarians Abroad is sending off a year filled with various challenges. The institution continues to support and organize its traditional initiatives aimed at compatriots abroad. Essay and drawing contests on the topics of "Bulgaria", "Spartakiade" and "Folkloriada", aimed at the youngest generation of Bulgarians around the world, continue to enjoy significant interest from talented children. CEO of the Agency, Rayna Mandzhukova, said that new initiatives are also coming as their purpose is to deepen the dialogue with young people who will soon make their choice whether to return to Bulgaria or stay abroad. Bulgarian compatriots abroad receive the awards presented by the agency with great excitement, as they are a recognition from the Motherland for their activities or achievements.

At a special press conference dedicated to the work of the Agency for Bulgarians Abroad, its head Rayna Mandzhukova pointed out the need to approach the work with Bulgarians in Ukraine carefully.

"I have witnessed the criticism of citizens on social networks that the Agency was not there, but the truth is that not all of the things we do in this direction should be made public. I think it is more important that our compatriots in Ukraine know that we are doing something for them. We maintain contacts with organizations, private individuals, with anyone who has contacted us with a request for help. And we find a way to help them.”

The situation with the Taurian Bulgarians who are under Russian occupation in Ukraine is complicated. Sunday schools in the Zaporizhzhia region are currently closed and it is forbidden to teach the Bulgarian language there, Mandzhukova pointed out. "Nevertheless, we keep contact with the schools and we are ready to resume work when this is possible," she added. Bulgarian Sunday schools in the unoccupied parts of Ukraine continue to operate in-class or online, depending on whether they have bomb shelters and the ability to quickly and safely evacuate if needed.

Mandzhukova says that the transformation from a state agency into an executive agency and the transition to control under the Minister of Foreign Affairs, is a step in the right direction that significantly facilitates work with the Bulgarian communities abroad.

"Until now, people were mainly concerned with the authentication of Bulgarian origin, while communication with our diverse communities and organizations around the world was not familiar to them,” the executive head of the agency says. “We began to restore our contacts with them, but also to study them again, as they develop and change according to their own rules. Each of our communities around the world needs a specific approach to it and the setting of specific priorities in working with them. We need the Bulgarians around the world just like they need us."

That is why it is so important to keep the relationships between our communities abroad and the agency alive. By knowing their problems, it can assist in finding solutions at the level of state institutions and legislative power in Bulgaria.

English: Al. Markov

Photos: BGNES, aba.government.bg, library