Last week, 41 scholars from eight countries: Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Canada, Poland, Romania, North Macedonia, and Serbia participated in the “Old Art” module of the“Art Readings 2026”  international scientific symposium. The conference began with a presentation on the capabilities of the latest technologies and their application in archaeology, art history, and the reconstruction of destroyed monuments. Most of the presentations focused on the cultural heritage of the Balkans, but some also focused on the art of Western Europe and the Far East. During the academic sessions, unpublished works from Antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Ottoman period, and the National Revival were presented and discussed for the first time. Conceptual questions regarding time and space (chronos, keros, eon, chronotope, hierotope, dichrony, ditopia, etc.) were interpreted in [...]

A musical evening dedicated to the richness and diversity of classical music from the countries of the Danube region took place on April 21 in the “Prof. Marin Drinov” Hall. The concert by the mozARTE Salzburg Trio was organized by BAS and the Austrian Cultural Forum Sofia to mark Bulgaria’s presidency of the European Union Strategy for the Danube Region and in the spirit of Earth Day. The event was opened by the President of BAS, Corresponding Member Evelina Slavcheva, and Austrian Ambassador, H.E. Ms. Andrea Ikić-Böhm. Corr. Memb. Slavcheva noted that this was the second joint initiative following the highly successful “Scientist for a Day” event which inspired and encouraged young people to engage in science. “Today’s event also fits into the broader context [...]

On April 7, Corresponding Member Vladimir Chukov delivered a lecture titled “Donald Trump’s Foreign Policy (2.0) Toward Iran and Syria” as part of the academic seminar “Current Issues in Science.” Prof. Chukov emphasized the deep historical roots of Islamic movements and their contemporary transformation, as well as the role of the Kurdish factor in the Middle East - a topic of direct relevance to current international stability and security. During the lecture, both of Corr. Memb. Chukov’s monographs, “Assassins versus the Muslim Brotherhood” and “The Kurds in Rojava: North and Northeast Syria” were showcased. Their presentation sparked a lively discussion involving both representatives of the academic community and practitioners in the field of national security. The “Current Issues in Science” academic seminar has reaffirmed the [...]

Writer Georgi Gospodinov, a corresponding member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, has been awarded an honorary doctorate by the National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations (INALCO) in Paris. Corresponding Member Gospodinov was honored for his contribution to European and world literature. The ceremony took place at the INALCO building in Paris on March 30. “Telling stories, writing books, and translating books is part of saving the world. Because it saves the human in us. And from there, it saves life itself,” said Georgi Gospodinov in his speech at the ceremony. At the ceremonial presentation of the Bulgarian writer, Marie Vrinat-Nikolov, a longtime translator and professor of Bulgarian language and literature at INALCO, described Gospodinov’s contribution to world literature and the deeply human ideas [...]

The President of BAS, Corresponding Member Evelina Slavcheva, took part in the celebration of Thrace Day, which is observed on March 26 at the initiative of the Union of Thracian Societies in Bulgaria. On this date in 1913, the Second Bulgarian Army, under the command of Lieutenant General Nikola Ivanov, captured Edirne. The Bulgarian soldier astonished the world with his feat which brought the Balkan War to an end. The triumph of victory, however, was overshadowed by the tragedy of hundreds of thousands of Thracian Bulgarians who, during the summer and fall of 1913, were subjected by the Ottoman army to persecution, ruin, and physical destruction. In her speech, Corr. Memb. Slavcheva recalled that in his book “Разорението на тракийските българи през 1913 г.” (The [...]

On March 26, 2026, the results of the secret ballot held by all 42 academies - honorary members of the International Community of Academies (Κοινὸν) were announced regarding the election of members to the Executive Committee of the Plato Academy which is being revived in Athens. According to the Statutes of Κοινὸν, delegates from the Academies that are honorary members of the Community may elect three members to the Executive Committee. Among the nominees was the Vice-President of BAS Prof. Emmanuel Moutafov, DSc. With the most votes, Prof. Juan Antonio Mariano Mazzei of the Buenos Aires National Academy of Medicine, Argentina, and immediately following him, with an equal number of votes, Prof. E. Moutafov of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and Prof. Hans Joachim Schellnhuber [...]