Investments for the development of Bulgaria's border regions with Serbia and North Macedonia will reach over EUR 125 million

With a theatre festival, the three countries celebrate together in Kyustendil the Interreg Day and the 35th anniversary of the creation of cross-border programmes

With an international theatre festival – ‘Acting Europe – Theatre without Borders’ – Bulgaria, Serbia and North Macedonia celebrate in Kyustendil the Interreg Day and the 35th anniversary of the European programme that develops border settlements. Since its launch in 1990, Interreg has aimed to build bridges between regions, institutions and people. Over 35 years, cohesion policy has invested over €40 billion and implemented over 30 000 projects involving 135 000 partners across Europe.

Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Serbia have been working for 25 years on joint projects for connectivity, economy, tourism, culture, education, environmental protection, etc. In the past programming period, 54 million euro have been invested under the cooperation programmes in the border regions of the three countries and another 70 million euro will be invested in the current one. Programmes bring real results such as better connectivity, economic growth, new partnerships and friendships.

“Theatre is where we can all be together – without barriers and prejudices. This is what Interreg has been doing for 35 years. Thanks to the cooperation programmes, our regions have implemented projects that change people’s lives, from infrastructure and economy to culture and education’, Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Public Works Yura Vitanova stressed in her speech at the official opening of the celebrations in the Drama Theatre building. She added that we can all do much more when we are together, both for our countries and for the development of Europe.

Deputy Minister Vitanova thanked the Representation of the European Commission in Bulgaria, the Ministry of Tourism, all partners in the cross-border cooperation programmes, the Union of Artists in Bulgaria and the host, Kyustendil Municipality, for the implementation of the initiative, which is being held on such a large scale for the first time. She stressed that the International Theatre Festival should become an annual tradition.

The official guests of the festival included the Head of the Representation of the European Commission in Bulgaria Yordanka Chobanova, the Ambassador of Bulgaria to the Republic of North Macedonia (RSM) Zhelyazko Radukov, the Ambassadors of the RSM in Bulgaria Agnesa Rusi Popovska and of Serbia Milan Ravic, etc. The European Commissioner for Intergenerational Justice, Youth, Culture and Sport, Glenn Mikalef, also made a special welcome via video address.

In Kyustendil, Deputy Minister Vitanova, together with Yordanka Chobanova, Head of the Representation of the European Commission in Bulgaria, held a meeting with the Mayor of the municipality, Eng. Ognyan Atanasov. They discussed the implementation of the European projects of the municipality and the future plans for the development of the settlements.

The initiatives will run until 21 September. In the theatre halls of the Drama Theatre in Kyustendil, residents and guests of the city can watch six theatre productions by leading theatres from Bulgaria, the Republic of North Macedonia and Serbia – the Ivan Vazov National Theatre – Sofia, the Macedonian National Theatre – Skopje, the Niš National Theatre, the Drama Theatre – Kyustendil, as well as several independent productions. 

The aim of the ‘Acting Europe – Theatre Without Borders’ festival is to show that theatre is a universal language that has no borders – as is partnership, and art is the strongest bridge between people. The festival will be accompanied by other events such as a drone show, a laser spectacle, a pyrotechnic show, creative workshops for children, culinary demonstrations and a craft exhibition.