Multicultural Europe: The case of Bulgaria

Abstract

The article aims at analyzing the cultural and linguistic diversity in Europe as values worth being preserved since they are a guarantee for open consciousness. Multiculturalism and multilingualism contribute to the goals of job creation and sustainable growth. Multilingualism, which is a vital and integral part of Europe's rich and cultural diversity, is a way out of the deep crisis that has gripped Europe because the continent is a huge labor market, where English is the working language, but knowledge of a universal language is not enough. The paper emphasizes upon a very significant issue whose essence is: the task of our time is to be able to realize that the unity of the human race lies in diversity. It is therefore not accidental that the motto of the European Union states “United in diversity”. The case of Bulgaria as a part of the European Union is also scrutinized in the article. Bulgarians have lived for centuries at a crossroads between Europe and Asia along with various peoples and ethnicities. This serves as an explanation as to why the Balkans are a multicultural region despite the fact that it was often associated with fragmentation and wars. An inference has been drawn that it is apparent the modern Bulgarian people can find their identity at the European Union level, at the Balkans’ level, at the level of the Bulgarian tradition, even at the level of the local community. And it is feasible to have productive cooperation between these levels of identities.