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

Zdenka Todorova in an interview for the BNR

Politicians only remember the Bulgarians in the Western Outlands before elections

Зденка Тодорова
Photo: Ani Petrova

In her new book “Towards Caribrod and about it” civil liberties campaigner Zdenka Todorova throws a bridge between past and present with the experience and the memoirs of figures who have played an important role in our history, to make pessimistic observations about the position of the Bulgarian national minority in the Western Outlands (territories ceded by Bulgaria under the Treaty of Neuilly after World War I).

“For thirty years we have been going round and round in a vicious circle and nothing is changing for the better for our compatriots,” Zdenka Todorova says. An expert in the history of the Western Outlands and a prominent public figure among the Bulgarian minority in Serbia, Zdenka believes Bulgaria is still in their debt.


“We do not have a coherent policy towards the Western Outlands,” Zdenka Todorova says in an interview for the BNR. “We need to make an in-depth analysis, and not just with advisers, cabinet ministers, presidents, prime ministers. This analysis must include what Bulgaria wants to do for these people so the region will not be left empty of people. When I was working on my previous book I travelled hundreds of kilometres in these parts – there are no animals, no people, just shuttered houses. In the villages – not a living soul to be seen. And if that is what we see in Caribrod and Bosilegrad then who are we going to leave these lands, these monuments to, who could they benefit since there are no investments for people to be able to survive?”

Zdenka Todorova says Bulgarian politicians only remember our compatriots abroad before elections. “That is such a cliché – how much these people matter,” she adds, and asks the rhetorical question whether anyone in power has ever gone to ask the people in Caribrod, where life was brought to a standstill by Covid-19, how they are getting by, are they able to keep the bond with Bulgaria alive as borders closed.

As to her native town of Caribrod (Dimitrovgrad) she says that after the liberation of Bulgaria (1878) up until the Treaty of Neuilly (1919), it was a typical town of the National Revival era with a sizeable cultural and educational elite, something demonstrated by the characters in her new book:

“It was there that Ivan Vazov wrote the first stanza of his poem “The new graveyard above Slivnitsa” and later recited it to Prince Alexander of Battenberg in a tavern in Pirot, it was there that the writer and the founder of the tourist movement in Bulgaria Aleko Konstantinov took about 100 people to later describe the adventure in a travelogue, it was there that Peter Deunov and Petar Dimkov demonstrated their healing powers with our soldiers.”

Editing by Diana Tsankova

Photos: BGNES, BNR


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

The Sofia Summer Seminar in Bulgarian Studies for Foreigners inspires lasting interest in Bulgaria

Lectures in the Bulgarian language, as well as seminars on translation, discussions about new trends in contemporary Bulgarian literature and culture, traditions, folklore, and encounters with today’s Bulgarian cinema — all of this is part of the..

published on 7/15/25 7:31 PM
Young Bulgarians from Prizren, Kosovo.

The Bulgarian community in Kosovo preserves its national identity

Today, Bulgarian society is largely unaware of the existence of the Bulgarian community in Albania and Kosovo, or of their activities. The book Bulgarian Communities in Albania and Kosovo. Social and Political Processes and Demographic Consequences..

published on 7/15/25 4:36 PM

Ancient mystery: archaeologists uncover finely carved face at Heraclea Sintica

During rescue excavations in the western necropolis of the ancient city of Heraclea Sintica near the village of Rupite, archaeologists unearthed a unique find: a finely carved marble face . The discovery was made at a grave that was likely looted..

published on 7/13/25 6:00 AM