Balgarianovinite.com Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) Director General Kiril Valchev opened the award ceremony for the Agency’s Balkan Athlete of the Year on Monday, announcing the results of the 2025 poll and welcoming all guests at BTA’s National Press Club in Sofia.
Romanian swimmer David Popovici was named the winner, with Serbian basketball player Nikola Jokic and weightlifter Carlos Nasar, who received BTA’s special prize for Bulgarian Balkan Athlete, completing the top three.
The annual poll involves national agencies from across the region, including BTA (Bulgaria), ANA-MPA (Greece), AGERPRES (Romania), Anadolu Agency (Turkiye), TANYUG (Serbia), MINA (Montenegro), MIA (North Macedonia), HINA (Croatia), FENA (Bosnia and Herzegovina), CNA (Cyprus), ATA (Albania), and KosovaPress (Kosovo).
“Today, on BTA’s 128th anniversary, we are announcing the Balkan Athlete in the 52nd edition of the ranking. The first edition was in 1973, the year I was born and the year Mr. Serdar Karagoz, head of Anadolu Agency, was also born. Each year, a colleague from one of the 12 participating agencies joins us for the announcement. This is a competition where all 12 countries are always winners because people in our region, in Southeast Europe, are so close and connected that ‘Balkan’ is the word we use for what we share. This year, the top 10 includes three athletes from Greece, two from Bulgaria, and one each from Serbia, Romania, Turkiye, Kosovo, and Croatia,” Valchev said, adding that the award will now be presented annually on February 16.
“From now on, we will strive to present the Balkan Athlete award every February 16, BTA’s founding day. We also updated our written rules today, including our Ethics Code, to explicitly set guidelines for using artificial intelligence. The rules are simple: a journalist must always be involved at the start and end of any AI-assisted work, asking questions accurately and verifying answers before publication. But there is one clear area where AI can never intervene – and that is sports. The winner will always be a living person,” he commented.
Valchev also highlighted BTA’s expanding regional presence: “Finally, I am pleased to announce that BTA now has National Press Clubs with permanent correspondents in all neighboring countries. After Skopje, Bucharest, Ankara, and Belgrade, we officially opened a National Press Club in Athens on Saturday, on the day of St. Constantine Cyril the Philosopher.” BTA Director General Opens Balkan Athlete of the Year Ceremony 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-02-16 18:53:00 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law