Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Rayko Nikolov, doyen of Bulgarian diplomacy dies age 96

Rayko Nikolov with Pope John Paul II
Photo: archive

The doyen of Bulgarian diplomacy Rayko Nikolov has died at the age of 96, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry has announced.

Rayko Nikolov was Bulgaria’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva for many years, as well as to the former Yugoslavia and to Italy, and was one of the people who shaped Bulgaria’s Balkan policy before the democratic changes in 1989. He was also the man who helped bring Sergei Antonov home, and the man who discovered Italy’s Celle di Bulgheria for Bulgaria, a municipality whose name is a reminder of the Bulgarian presence in these lands in the past. Researchers say the roots of the local population go back to Alcek, thought to be Khan Asparuh’s brother. They say that before Asparuh founded the First Bulgarian Kingdom in 681, Alcek settled in the lands of the Kingdom of the Lombards.

May he rest in peace!



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

A European Parliament committee will monitor road safety in Bulgaria

The European Parliament’s Committee on Petitions (PETI) has decided to monitor the state of road safety in Bulgaria. The decision came after hearing a petition submitted by Rosalina Gadyuchkova, a Bulgarian citizen living in the United Kingdom.  The..

published on 11/4/25 9:54 AM

The Consulate General of Bulgaria in Toronto organizes Consular Days in Vancouver on November 7 and 8

The Consulate General of the Republic of Bulgaria in Toronto, together with the Bulgarian-Canadian Society of British Columbia, will organize consular days in Vancouver, BC on November 7 and 8, 2025, announced the team of the Bulgarian diplomatic..

published on 11/4/25 9:21 AM
National Gallery Square 500

National Gallery presents Christo and Jeanne-Claude with "Wrapped Reichstag"

The National Gallery Square 500 opens for the first time on November 4 at 6:00 p.m. an exhibition of Christo and Jeanne-Claude, marking the 90th anniversary of the birth of the creative tandem. The first acquisition of Christo's..

published on 11/4/25 7:05 AM