Opening of the mobile exhibition ‘Croats and Bulgarians through the Ages’ at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the occasion of the Diplomatic Service Day
17 July 2024 News
On the occasion of 145 years since the establishment of the Day of the Diplomatic Service, which is celebrated on 19 July, the new mobile exhibition ‘Croats and Bulgarians through the ages’ was opened in the lobby of the 7th floor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria. Cultural diplomacy and inter-academic cooperation/ Hrvati i Bugari kroz stoljeća. Cultural Diplomacy and Academic Cooperation’.
The exhibition ‘Croats and Bulgarians through the Ages. Cultural diplomacy and inter-academic cooperation/ Hrvati i Bugari kroz stoljeća. Kulturna diplomacija i međuakademska suradnja’ was prepared by a research team of the Institute of Balkan Studies with the Center for Thracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in the framework of the project ‘Cultural Diplomacy in the Balkans in the 20th and 21st Centuries: achievements, Problems, Challenges for the Future’, funded by the Scientific Research Fund of the Ministry of Education. It is presented in partnership with the State Cultural Institute under the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of Croatia in Bulgaria.
The opening was attended by guests and diplomats, the Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia H.E. Ms Jasna Ognjanovac, the Deputy Minister Maria Angelieva, the Director of the State Cultural Institute under the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Snezhana Yoveva-Dimitrova, Prof. Rumiana Preshlenova — Director of the Institute of Balkan Studies with the Center of Thracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Ch. Assist. Dr. Alexandra Milanova, from IBCT-BAS.
Mrs. Yoveva-Dimitrova welcomed the guests and emphasized: ‘On the eve of Diplomacy Day, we are happy to host an interesting and informative exhibition on Bulgarian-Croatian relations. It shows how much we can achieve when we work together to achieve common goals in the field of cultural diplomacy.’ The Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia H.E. Mrs. Jasna Ognjanovac said: ‘The exhibition is a symbol of our long-standing friendship and cooperation. Cultural diplomacy is the bridge that connects us and enriches our mutual understanding and respect.’ Deputy Minister Angelieva thanked for the opportunity of hosting the exhibition at the Ministry and expressed her conviction that such cultural projects are of utmost importance for diplomacy and educating the young generation. The scientific supervisor of the project was Ch. assist. Dr. Alexandra Milanova also thanked for the interest in the exhibition and the excellent partnership with the State Institute of Culture and added that ‘it is an expression of the aspiration to share cultural heritage and to promote cultural diplomacy as a means for peace and understanding - the fruit of hard work and true partnership.’
The exhibition presents the original results of the long-standing successful partnership between the Department of Historical Sciences and the Institute for the History of Croatian Literature, Theatre and Music at the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts and the Institute of Balkan Studies with the Centre for Thracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. It consists of 16 panels, each of which contains a QR code providing full access to the materials from the conferences held in Bulgaria and Croatia since 1998. The exposition reveals important aspects of Bulgarian-Croatian relations over the centuries, the contribution of both nations to the cultural diversity of the Old Continent and their role in the formation of a common European identity.
The exhibition is arranged at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the occasion of 19 July — the Day of Diplomacy, approved by a resolution of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Nadezhda Mihaylova on 21 July 1999. Decree 23 of 17 July 1879, as the First Bulgarian Constitution — the Tarnovo Constitution - dictated, established for the first time a central state institution for the organization, management and conduct of Bulgaria's foreign policy through a diplomatic mission, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Confessions. Marko Balabanov was appointed Minister, and by the decree of Kniaz Alexander I Battenberg of 19 July 1879 the first Bulgarian diplomatic representatives abroad were appointed — Dr. Dimitar Kirovich as diplomatic agent in Belgrade, Dragan Tsankov in Istanbul and Evlogi Georgiev in Bucharest. The first countries with which our country entered into diplomatic relations in the same year were Russia, Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Belgium, Serbia, Romania and Türkiye.