As the largest representative organization of professional musicians and performers in our country, we at the Bulgarian Music Association are extremely concerned about what has been happening in the cultural sector in recent days.

Over the past few years, our organization has not stopped fighting for a gradual and well-founded increase in funding for the Culture sector, a sector that has traditionally been chronically underfunded and poorly reformed. We have taken a number of steps with proposals for legislative changes to the Law on the Protection and Development of Culture, which would guarantee a sustainable increase in the budgets of the institutes and the funds for the salaries of those employed in them.

Every small step in this direction for those working in the field of performing arts is a big victory. That is why we at the Bulgarian Music Association strongly hope that this tense situation will not harm the discussion of the 2025 budget.

Therefore, we call on the responsible institutions to ensure full transparency of the process and the results of the investigation, and for the guilty parties to bear their responsibility in order to avoid lasting negative consequences for the reputation and work of the artists employed in the performing arts institutes.

We also hope that this situation will not affect, delay or set back the already difficult-to-achieve dialogue on the need for a national culture strategy.

BMA Management Board