The the Junior Balkan Mathematical Olympiad (JBMO 2026) has officially started in Buzau, with organisers describing it as a competition of a high level of difficulty aimed at creativity as well as fostering friendship among participants.
The Junior Balkan Mathematical Olympiad is a renowned mathematics competition for pupils aged up to 15. It is organised by the Mathematical Society of South Eastern Europe (MASSEE) and brings together participants from Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, Greece, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Türkiye.
The 30th edition, held this year in Buzau, was opened by local authorities, organisers and artistic performances.
"We are opening in the city of Buzau an edition of the Balkan Olympiad which we want to be not only a competition that brings together the brightest minds in the region, but beyond that a decisive step towards performance, friendship and the future. Today, Buzau becomes the epicenter of intelligence in the region. You, dear friends of mathematics, continue a vast legacy, as the Balkan region is the cradle of geometry, the space where Thales and Pythagoras laid the foundations of the modern world. Although you come from different countries and speak different languages, in front of the blank page you speak a single universal language, mathematics. Political borders have changed throughout history, but your laws have remained immutable. The sum of the angles in a triangle is the same anywhere in the world. Our great professor Grigore Moisil said that mathematics is a way of thinking freely, so I urge you to use this freedom in the competition halls here in Buzau and not let pressure and passion take away your joy. Dare to explore untrodden paths and to impress through the originality of your solutions," School Inspector General of the Buzau County School Inspectorate Daniela Palcau said at the opening of the event.
Mayor of Buzau city Constantin Toma wished success to the pupils and said the county has, over time, produced notable figures in the area of science.
"Buzau has been a centre of education in the sciences for a very long time. The first Romanian Nobel Prize laureate in Medicine, George Emil Palade, was a graduate of the 'B.P. Hasdeu' National College, a school that also produced an international olympiad gold medallist, Bogdan Enescu, who built a school within a school here in Buzau. He trained many pupils who became olympiad competitors, including with results at this Balkan Olympiad, and together with Professor Radu Gologan he also trained the Romanian team. Speaking of science, a former international olympiad in chemistry competitor, Marius Andruh, is today president of the Romanian Academy. You are wonderful young people and you will certainly not get lost in the crowd of this world. I wish you great success," the mayor of Buzau told the participating pupils and teachers.
In international mathematics competitions, the level of difficulty of the problems has increased year by year. Bogdan Enescu, the first Romanian international olympiad gold medallist and a teacher at the "B.P. Hasdeu" National College, said that Romanian pupils are prepared for such a competition, despite the fact that the Balkan Olympiad may feature difficult problems.
"I hope the problems are well chosen and that the children respond as they should. The level of difficulty has increased, and this happened in all mathematics competitions, including the International Mathematical Olympiad, the Seniors Balkan Mathematical Olympiad, as we may call it, and the Junior Balkan Olympiad, the level of difficulty has gradually increased and somewhat more so in the last 10 years, with a kind of leap in problem difficulty around the year 2000. I expect quite difficult problems this year, but I am convinced there will be pupils who will handle them well. In the Mathematics Olympiad there are four main areas: algebra, geometry, number theory and combinatorics. In recent years there has been a strong emphasis on combinatorics, because it is closer to IT, but all are important and I expect that of the four problems proposed to pupils in this competition, they will be distributed in this way: algebra, geometry, number theory and combinatorics," Professor Bogdan Enescu underscored.
The Junior Balkan Mathematical Olympiad takes place in Buzau from 15 to 20 June.
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