It's like broadcasting a Macedonian-language television programme in Thessaloniki and calling it "Good Evening, Solun!" The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry announced, on December 15 2008, the starting of an all Bulgarian-language TV show called Dobur Vecher, Tsaribrode!
The catch is, the weekly programme is broadcast in Serbia, in a city know - in Serbian - as Dimitrovgrad, and not Tsaribrod. Dobur Vecher, Tsaribrode! aims to provide a sense of unity for the Bulgarian minority in Dimitrovgrad/Tsaribrod, through a talk show-like format that covers news stories and gatherings related to the local Bulgarian population. In the first edition, on December 14, a congratulatory letter from Bulgarian ambassador in Belgrade Georgi Dimitrov was read; guest of the day was Georgi Yuroukov, Bulgarian general consul in Ni, and the topic of discussion was the ongoing water supply problem in Dimitrovgrad.
Dimitrovgrad's Bulgarian community marked another event recently, as well - the local Bulgarian school, named after Hristo Botev, was completely renovated, the project taking place on the idea of the Bulgarian embassy in Serbia and financed by the Japanese embassy in Serbia. Classes at the institution will be held on a rotating basis, with morning and afternoon sessions. Bulgaria's Economy and Energy Minister Petar Dimitrov and power stations Maritsa-Iztok and Kozloduy also backed the project.
At the opening ceremony for the renovated school building, Japanese ambassador to Belgrade Tadashi Nagai was reported to have commended ambassador Dimitrov for his work in helping the project to be realised, and said that the Japanese embassy would, in the future, look to support similar projects in partnership with the Bulgarian embassy.