The listeners of Radio Bulgaria wish that the short-wave broadcasts of RB continue in future. Mr Miguel Dominguez Jurado from Spain says that he wishes to keep listening to our short-wave radio broadcasts in times when some radio stations have been forced to close down. “Now more than ever it is important that we send reception reports to you to show that there are a lot of people who follow your every-day emissions”, he continues. Another listener from Spain, Salvador Lavin Carral, congratulates RB’s Spanish Service on their wonderful job and adds: “I listened with huge interest to the piece about St Trifon Zarezan Holiday. I hope that the broadcasts of Radio Bulgaria will not be affected by the crisis”.
Fidel Fidalgo Moncada from Cuba explains that he has adjusted the frequencies of RB in a way that he can easily tune in to the features, which he finds extremely pleasant. “This is a wonderful way to keep in touch with Bulgaria nowadays”, Mr Moncada reckons.
Another Cuban friend of Radio Bulgaria, Dargel Tamayo, writes the following: “Here in Cuba you have numerous listeners. Keep up the good work and be sure that we, the listeners, can feel your warmth and love when you reach out to us on short wave”, Mr Tamayo says.
More and more people have become friends of Radio Bulgaria listening to our programmes on the Internet. “I find RB’s webpage to be good. The old site was good, too, but the new one is more informative”, writes Christoph Preutenborbeck from Germany and adds: “I followed with great interest the edition of Answering Your Letters in which you spoke about Sofia’s problems with waste management. Let us hope that the construction of facilities for utilizing the waste in biomass, which is envisaged in Bulgaria, will solve the problems of the capital. We listen to you on the Internet where reception is excellent unlike on the short-wave bands”.
A regular listener from Japan has informed us that recently the signal has been very strong and that he listens to Radio Bulgaria with pleasure. “Your programmes are high-quality”, he reckons.
Brian Beckingar from the USA also finds our programmes to be very interesting, especially the music features.
A listener from France has been impressed by RB’s programmes about the Bulgarian expedition to Antarctica. “I am happy that there will be a new stamp series dedicated to this topic. Few countries have representatives on the ice continent and Bulgaria is one of them”, he says.
A listener from Senegal has written to us the following “Many thanks for the stamps and the small souvenirs from you radio station. I listen to the short wave a great deal and you are the only station that writes back to its listeners”.
We continue with Helmut Matt from Germany who says “I am glad that Bulgaria is one of those EU countries which are interested in the life of their neighbouring states. RB’s programmes are a token of international radio broadcasting and I hope that we will enjoy them in future”.
Koriiba Naas from Algeria writes the following: “I would like to express my satisfaction and gratitude for your contribution to the development of the friendly relations between Bulgaria and the Arab world. I listen to your programmes all the time; I have been your friend since 1988! Best regards to you, who are working at the Arabic Service of Radio Bulgaria”.
A Radio Bulgaria regular listener Sokol Demacku, chief editor of the radio and magazine Dituria in Sweden congratulates the Albanian service of Radio Bulgaria on their nice emissions. Albanian speleologist Prof. Guzim Uruchi also sends his best regards to the service and thanks the section that his letter has become part of RB’s new feature called Fanclub.
A true fan of our music and folklore programmes is Sakae Onozova from Yokohama, Japan. Yohishiro Kusanagi from Tokyo also likes Bulgarian music. Alexey Vesselkov from Russia can still remember one of Radio Bulgaria’s programmes in which we told you about Dilma Rousseff, Brazil’s new president who is of Bulgarian origin. “Will this lead to trade and economic cooperation between Bulgaria and Brazil”, Mr Vesselkov asks. He is also interested in the Burgas- Alexandroupolis oil pipeline project, Bulgaria’s most exported goods and others.
In February, as usual, our regular listeners from Greece preferred to contact Radio Bulgaria on the phone. Mr Tufeksis from Kavala has been a regular listener for more than 40 years now. “I have always trusted the information you offer and that is why, I have kept tuning in to your station over the years”, he says.
An interesting fact we have learnt recently is that a few friends from the village of Velvendo in Greece has started gathering together only to listen to and comment on the programmes of Radio Bulgaria, informs Mr Nikokirulis.
In a special interview for Radio Bulgaria’s Turkish Section Mr Ahmed Mete, regional mufti of Xanthi, Turkey, says the following: “We have grown up with Radio Sofia. Back in the past there were no programmes in Turkish in Northern Greece and so the only information source in our mother tongue was the programmes in Turkish at the Bulgarian National Radio. In summer we would go to the fields with a small radio receiver and would listen to Turkish songs and programmes. In the past there was only one border that separated us: we were on one side and our relatives- on the other. Nowadays, there are already many border checkpoints and the distance between my village and the town of Zlatograd is only 20 km. We keep listening to our common radio and once again it is a cultural and media bridge between our fellows on both sides of the border”, Mr Mete comments.
Once again the Bulgarians who live abroad have contacted us to inform RB of various initiatives organized by the Bulgarian communities abroad. Petar Branekov who lives in Poland has written to our colleague Elena Karkalanova “Thank you from the bottom of my heart! Together we can prove the significance of the Bulgarian folklore in Europe and keep up the spirit of the Bulgarians who live in other European countries”. Finally, Henrdik Leuker from Germany has written to RB “I eagerly expect the end of the working week to devote myself to your programmes. In fact, they are a pleasant end of the working day and the weekend”.
English version: Vyara Popova
