With Bulgaria and Romania's EU accession, the Union has gained one of Europe's most fertile regions - Dobrogea - director general of news agency BTA Kiril Valchev told a local conference held in Dobrich on Tuesday as part of BTA's project 'Europe on Balkans: Cohesion Skills', the Bulgarian news agency informs.
Valchev explained that this is the reason why Earth Day was chosen for the conference, highlighting the agricultural importance of the region. Citing Eurostat data, he noted that fewer than ten EU countries produce up to 85% of the Union's staple foods. Bulgaria and Romania, he stressed, are key contributors to EU food security, with Dobrogea playing a vital role in this respect.
In southern Dobrogea, 98.8% of agricultural land is arable - the highest share in Bulgaria. Moreover, the food industry in the Dobrich region accounts for 48% of local industrial production, he said.
Valchev pointed to two major challenges for Bulgaria in Dobrogea: increasing the added value of grain production and addressing the demographic decline which "contrasts with other fertile European regions, where populations tend to grow," he stressed. The BTA director also highlighted the importance of education, noting the involvement of schools and universities in the conference.
Valchev noted that BTA has now tripled the number of its national press clubs, maintaining and expanding the 14 that opened in the last 18 years, and now operates 42 across Bulgaria and abroad.
BTA's project 'Europe in the Balkans: Together through Knowledge', supported by the European Commission, seeks to foster knowledge exchange between people in Bulgaria, the Balkans, and the rest of the EU.
BTA's 'Europe on Balkans: Cohesion Skills' project aims to raise public awareness and foster open dialogue about cohesion policy, local achievements, and the implementation of the EU's policy priorities. The project kicked off with a conference in Veliki Preslav in November 2024. The schedule of conferences until the end of September 2025 includes events in the following cities: Blagoevgrad, Burgas, Varna, Veliko Tarnovo, Vidin, Vratsa, Gabrovo, Dobrich, Kazanlak, Kardzhali, Kyustendil, Lovech, Montana, Pazardzhik, Pernik, Pleven, Razgrad, Ruse, Samokov, Svishtov, Sliven, Smolyan, Sofia, Stara Zagora, Troyan, Targovishte, Haskovo, Shumen, and Yambol. Cross-border conferences will be held in Belgrade, Bosilegrad, Bucharest, Edirne, Skopje, and Thessaloniki. The project builds on the 'Europe in the Balkans: A Common Future' and 'Europe in Bulgaria: A Common Future' projects, implemented by BTA in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
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