The different historical periods of the development of Bulgaria have put a number of challenges to the foreign-language broadcasts of the Bulgarian National Radio, known as "Radio Bulgaria".

In its original form, Radio Bulgaria appeared on February 16, 1936 - only 13 months after radio broadcasting in Bulgaria became state property, and the Bulgarian radio, then called Radio Sofia, officially started its operation. It was a Sunday and with the help of the short waves, the entire morning program could be heard for the first time in Europe, North Africa and North America.

The foreign language broadcasts were introduced first in Esperanto, and after May 1, 1937 - systematically, five times a week, in French, German, English and Italian.

Searching for its most adequate appearance for the time, Radio Bulgaria continues today to pursue its mission - to provide daily reliable and accurate information from and about Bulgaria in ten languages, helping to shape the image of our country around the world and supporting Bulgarian communities abroad and our compatriots who have a mother tongue other than Bulgarian.

How Radio Bulgaria’s short-wave emissions made the transition to the digital era – you can learn in the publication "Radio Bulgaria turns 84", from our collection of publications on the subject.

Edited by Elena Karkalanova

English version Rositsa Petkova