Our compatriots in the German town of Papenburg organized a procession with the Bulgarian alphabet on May 19. The event was organized by the Bulgarian-German Society "Ognishte".

"Papenburg is the centre of German shipbuilding and there are many Bulgarians - almost 3,000," said Emilia Juker, Club of Bulgarian Women and Families in Hamburgр who wrote an anthem of Bulgarian Culture Around the World especially for the celebration.

Sabina Christov, the chairwoman of the Ognishte Society, shared on Facebook these photos from the celebration and one news related to the presence of Bulgarian literature in the local library: The idea proposed by the German-Bulgarian Society Ognishte, to open a branch in the City Library featuring Bulgarian, Russian, Serbian, Czech, and Polish classical and children's literature, both in the original languages and translated into German, has received support.

On 21 May, teachers and students of the Bulgarian Mother Tongue School in Hungary laid a wreath at the monument of Cyril and Methodius near Zalavár. They took part in the festive programme dedicated to the Day of Saints Cyril and Methodius, the Bulgarian alphabet, education and culture and Slavic literature, as we learned from the school's Facebook page.

"This year's celebrations are linked to the 100th anniversary of the first official pilgrimage and service in honour of the holy brothers at the tomb of St Constantine the Philosopher and his relics in the Roman Basilica of San Clemente, as well as the 5th anniversary of Pope Francis' visit to Bulgaria," Father Ivan, who leads services at the Bulgarian church there, told Radio Bulgaria. 

A special highlight was the opening of the exhibition "Mount Athos in Drawings and Photographs" at the Pontifical Lateran University.

The Bulgarian Embassy in Rome hosted a festive evening on the occasion of May 24. At the reception given by our Ambassador in Italy H.E. Todor Stoyanov, compatriots who live and work in the city met with President Rumen Radev and also with the popular singer Lyubo Kirov.