President Ilyana Yotova has proposed setting up a Bulgarian Cultural Institute, the BTA news agency reports. She said Bulgaria is the only European Union country that still has no such institution.
She called this "a real sore point" for her, given that Bulgaria has 14 centuries of history behind it to be proud of. Yotova added that she hopes the future institute will one day open a branch in New York.
The president spoke last night, local time, with members of the Bulgarian community at Bulgaria's consulate general in the city. The meeting took place at a reception marking September 22, Bulgaria's Independence Day, organized by the Bulgarian embassy in Washington and the consulate in New York.
The reception was hosted by chargé d'affaires Stefka Yovcheva and Bulgaria's consul general in New York, Angel Angelov. Guests of honor alongside Yotova included foreign minister Velislava Petrova and labor and social policy minister Natalia Efremova.
Yotova is leading Bulgaria's delegation in New York for the general political debates at the 81st session of the UN General Assembly. A day earlier, she took the podium at the UN and delivered Bulgaria's speech to the assembled delegates.